5 years ago, Roman Ruiz ‘died.’ Here’s how he rebuilt his life

Roman Ruiz doesn’t remember anything from the day he died.

He doesn’t remember much of the first year after, either. He relies on a YouTube video for that.

“My brain injury really affects my memory,” Ruiz, now 27, told the Deseret News. “So, anything from the past, I don’t really remember, but I’ve heard the story.”

When Ruiz woke up the morning of March 7, 2020, he was a Division I track athlete with Olympic aspirations. Hours later, he laid unconscious on the track at Utah State University, technically dead for 35 minutes while a Good Samaritan and paramedics worked to revive him.

On a late August afternoon, Ruiz, sits on a white couch with his parents in the living room of their Pasco, Washington, home.

Plants of all sizes line the back of the couch, ascending like a staircase o