St. Anthony's Honored for Exceptional Lifesaving

Ronald Jones was planning his daughter's wedding on New Year's Eve when he slumped over and became unresponsive. 

Medical personnel from  responded and brought Jones back to life, twice at his home and again at the hospital. 

“We called 911 and our daughter, who happened to be a nursing student, started CPR right away,” Ronald's wife Cindy Jones said in a hospital release. “He wasn’t breathing and he had no pulse, so I thought I lost him.”  

St. Anthony's paramedics performed an "exceptional save," which is when a person without a pulse and breathless is restored back to life. 

Jones was one of eight such saves in 2011 in the East Central Region of Greater St. Louis. The region includes St. Louis City and County, Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, Pike, St. Charles and Warren counties.

Jones honored representatives from St. Anthony's at the first Exceptional Life Save Awards on May 18. 

“It was so unbelievable,” Jones said. “Everyone clapped. It was an incredible memory. So many things happened at the right time to save me. I can’t thank St. Anthony’s and the ambulance and fire crews enough for all they did.” 

After a month-long stay in the hospital and a pacemaker implant, Jones saw his daughter walk down the aisle this month.