Dying to serve: At least 29 recruits have died while training to become police officers

This combination of images shows, top row, from left, Christopher David Murray, Cody Olafson, Cornelius Anderson, Timothy Guyer, Edgar Ordonez, Kevin Reaux, Thomas Coulter, second row, Marcus Zeigler, Mulwa Sumbi, Patrick Dupree, Ronald Donat, William "Tex" Bailey, Wisbens Antoine, Spencer Englett, bottom row, Asson Hacker, Donald Fredenburg Jr., Enrique Delgado-Garcia, Michelle Strube, Marquis Kennedy, Vincent Parks and Andrew Sockwell. (Frisco Police Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Harris County Sheriff's Office, Indiana Law Enforcement Academy, New York City Police Department, Bexar County Sheriff's Office, Daytona Beach Police Department, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, Law Enforcement Candidates Scholars' Program, Georgia State Patrol, Sharline Volcy, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, Knoxville Police Department, Forsyth County Sheriff's Department, Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office, U.S. Marine Corps, Massachusetts State Police, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Cassidy Hill, Jonesboro Police Department, City of Plano via AP) - (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Ronald Donat’s longtime dream of becoming a police officer was in jeopardy.

The 41-year-old struggled to stand after completing a flurry of pushups, sprints and pullups in the notoriously grueling start of physical training that recruits call “Hell Day.”