George Farah was shot seven times during a robbery in 1997 and suffered two cardiac arrests, but his 210-pound muscle mass kept him alive during the coma. He returned to competition at 169 pounds six months later, won his pro card within two years, and placed third in his first Mr. Olympia.
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My name is George Farah. I was born in Lebanon, but I spent most of my life in Rochester, New York. It's in upstate New York. area. I'm 31 years old. In 1983, when Samir Benoud, he's my native, you know, from Lebanon, won the Mr. Olympia, I was watching. I was probably about 13 years old. I couldn't believe it. Wow, somebody from Lebanon, you know, looked that good. He's all over the TV, the news, this and that. So it kind of like got me psyched a little bit, you know. And that's how I really got into it. How old were you when you first started? And, you know, I was competing on and off, on and off. I did a few shows in my teens, and I won every show I did. And I wasn't paying really much attention till finally, in 1997, you know, the end of it, I got shot in a robbery. And I actually almost lost my life. I mean, I had 7 cardiac arrests. I was pronounced dead. I was pronounced dead. You know, twice. So it was unbelievable, amazing, because they have to force me into a coma. My body wasn't taking any IV or nothing. And then the doctor told me that the only reason I'm still here is because of bodybuilding. Whoa. Because I went to the hospital on that day I got shot, I was a little over 210 pounds or something, and I left, I was only like 130-some pounds, you know. So imagine You know, what would have happened to me if I was just an average guy, you know, I would have been 6 feet under. They said for the first couple weeks my body was actually— my brain and heart were using my muscles to feed, you know, on. So it was something unbelievable, and that's what got me in bodybuilding 100%. 2 years later, you know, actually a year later, I went to the New York State Bodybuilding Championship At 169 pounds. You know, that was 6 months after my last, you know, surgery. They removed my choleostomy bag. I was 169 pounds, like I said. I won the overall, no problem. And then the same, the same year, about 6 weeks later actually, I went to the Junior National. I was an unknown. I took second, but that's fine. I was happy with it. It's my first time out. I took a year off, packed on some muscles. At 176 pounds, I went back to the national that year, following year, and I took from all the judges, all 11 judges straight first. So I won it. I couldn't believe it, my first time out at the national, and I turned pro. Gotta burn them, baby. Burn that back. It's my first year. No matter what I do, I'm happy. I gotta show the world smaller guys like me, they can do it too. And then so I decided to take another year off, pack on some more muscles, and maybe do my pro debut. And I did. And I probably— I want to say I gained around 30 or a little over 30 pounds of muscles in that year. And I did my first pro debut. It was the Southwest Pro in Dallas. And I can't believe that I tied for second with a guy like my best friend, actually, Bob Ciccarolo, at 250 pounds. And I was around 200. So that was— they gave me third to qualify me. I didn't even expect for the Olympia first time out. And here I am. I'm at the Olympia. What can I ask for more, you know? Thank God. That's all what I can say. And all the people that support me, they were behind me, you know, 100%. Yeah. Shorten the movement. That bottom part. Shorten that lat set. It was, it was unbelievable experience. I can't even like explain it because, uh, since the day one I lifted weight, I always wanted, man, to meet Joe Weider, be on the stage. And you know what I mean? It's like I said, I seen Samir Banout doing it. So it was amazing. It It was amazing. That's all what I can say. I was just like— I was thrilled. I was enjoying it. I didn't care where I was going to play. I'm there. You know what I mean? So I was very happy. Very happy. 1, 2, 3. Legs, legs, come on.
