Beatriz Fritschler running NYC marathon after 2 aneurysms

Four years ago, Beatriz Fritschler was fighting for her life — but this Sunday she will fight to finish her first New York City Marathon.

Having gone from intensive care at New York-Presbyterian Columbia Hospital, where she was given a 50 percent chance of survival, to the starting line at Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island, the 46-year-old has already completed a journey that matches the marathon itself for intensity and inspiration.

Fritschler’s road to running began unexpectedly. One night in March 2018, the administrator for a social services organization was in bed at her home in Washington Heights. “Suddenly, I had the worst headache of my life,” she said. “My husband was in the living room and I had a hard time walking out to him. I was slurring words, and he asked if I’d been drinking.”

Next morning, the pain escalated, so she went to the ER. A day after that, Fritschler, said, “surgeons opened my skull. An aneurysm had burst.”

The operation was a success and the rupture was clipped, but things suddenly got even more scary while Fristschler was recovering in the hospital “They did a scan and saw a second aneurysm, which had not yet ruptured. It was bigger than the first,” she recalled. “I freaked out and was afraid to sneeze.”

On her 19^th day in the hospital, Fritschler had a second brain surgery, which was also successful. But the experience was a wake-up call.

“I was the only person in the neurological ICU who could walk and talk,” she said, recalling that the person in the bed next to hers died while they were both hospitalized. “I was 50 pounds overweight and had high blood pressure. I wondered why I was so lucky to be cognitively and physically intact.”

Back at home, Fritschler said, “I thanked God and apologized to my body for not treating it well. I committed to moving 30 minutes per day and to eating healthy, but I was not trying to lose weight. Then, one year later, in 2019, I found out I was pre-diabetic. I realized that radical body-size acceptance was not working.”

She joined Weight Watchers and started going to the gym — which closed months later when COVID hit.

“In April 2021, I found women working out in Fort Tryon Park and decided to join them,” said Fritschler. There was just one problem: “Part of the warm-up was jogging for two or three minutes. As a kid, I would run half-a-block and get pain in my stomach. It was hard to do those two or three minutes.”

Within weeks, though, it got easier. Then Fritschler did what once seemed impossible. “I ran one mile. Afterward, I cried. I had never done it before and thought I never would.”

Bit by the running bug, she joined New York Road Runners‘ eight-week-long beginners program. “By the end of the eight weeks, I was able to run for 30 minutes nonstop,” Fritschler said. “Then I advanced to speed training, which had me doing sprints to improve my cardiovascular endurance and make me run faster. I joined Creative Living Runners Club and ran my first half-marathon last year. I’ve since done more than 12 races, which qualified me for the 2023 New York City Marathon.”

Fritschler — who has lost 55 pounds on her journey — was happy enough with that situation, but the unimaginable happened. “Community running clubs get a number of entries that get distributed to the most devoted runners,” said Fritschler. “I received one, which qualifies me for this year’s marathon. I felt amazing. It validates all the hard work I put in.”

Sunday morning, Fritschler will blast off from the starting line at 11:30. Friends and family will be cheering her on along the way. “I am in love with running and with experiencing the runner’s high,” she told The Post. “But I’ll feel high even before I start running on Sunday. There are so many great emotions attached to this race.”