Elkhart man who fell into cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital meets the paramedics who saved his life

ELKHART, Ind. – His family members call him a walking miracle. His name is Jerome Taylor, and after going into cardiac arrest, the paramedics who saved his life are being honored by Jerome’s family.

  More than a year ago, Jerome was diagnosed with kidney failure and was told that his heart could stop at any moment. Jerome decided not to do dialysis and wanted to do everything to prevent going on dialysis. But on March 5, 2025, Jerome went to get an iron infusion procedure done, which is when liquid iron is delivered directly into your bloodstream through a vein, and his heart rate was at 40 beats per minute. Afterward, he went to his primary doctor for a check-up, and that is when they discovered his pulse was at 229 beats per minute.

  Jerome’s oldest daughter, Mikki Taylor, decided to call 911 and send him to the hospital by ambulance. On the way to the hospital, in the ambulance, Jerome started to become disoriented, and his speech was starting to sound muffled. He fell into cardiac arrest, his heart stopped beating, and he was legally dead for at least 15 minutes. The paramedics who were working on him knew he had a fight in him; they didn’t give up on him.

  After those 15 minutes of silence from Jerome, the paramedics got a pulse back from him and rushed him to the hospital. Jerome’s family had no clue if he was alive or dead.

“But when we got to the hospital, the first person that greeted us was the chaplain, so I thought immediately, he’s dead. And he wasn’t, I thank God every day… every day,” Mikki said.

  Once Jerome regained consciousness, he was still able to walk and talk, but he wasn’t able to write, and that was the least of his worries. He was thankful to the people who saved his life and that he was given a second chance at life.

“I thank God that he instilled all these qualities in these guys. They performed their duties as they should and it was, and I’m grateful. Thankful,” Jerome said.

The team of paramedics who saved his life took a moment to pause and to meet the man who gave them credit for saving his life. Jerome isn’t the only one who is thankful, but so are his family members. Dozens of them were at the fire station in support of him and shaking the hands of the men who saved his life.