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Today, Joseph Maroon, MD, FACS is an 82-year-old triathlete, former neurosurgeon, longevity expert, and current member of Aviv’s Global Aging Consortium. But when he was in his mid-40s (before he ever contemplated running, biking, and swimming in succession), he experienced what he calls a “life quake.” A personal loss led to a depression so deep that he had to quit doing neurosurgery.
Then one day, a concerned business associate called and asked him to go for a run. Though Dr. Maroon could barely get out of bed, the associate convinced him to throw on an old pair of scrubs and give it a shot.
“I was exhausted and fatigued—but that night was the first night I had slept in three or four months,” Dr. Maroon says.
