Local Student’s Medical Training Comes in Handy

By Chance Meeting

For those who study in the medical field, any day can provide a hands-on testing of their knowledge in the form of a life or death situation. So was the case for medical assistant student Destiny Jones, who is now being hailed as a hero for saving a mans life with her medical knowledge and quick intervention.

Destiny Jones attends Bryant & Stratton College in Virginia Beach and had just finished learning the first aid techniques that would enable her to save a mans life. Little did she know that the opportunity would come so quickly.

This past August, Jones had just finished shopping for groceries at a Hampton Kroger store when fate called her to action. “As I’m coming outside,” she stated. “I’m putting groceries in the car and I turn over and there’s someone in need.” She heard a scream and saw the man on the ground of the parking lot having a seizure. Panicked at first, she remembered her training and began to act. “I realize he was seizing and right away I think the medical in me just kicked in.”

After noticing the man was bleeding from the mouth, Jones immediately turned him over to keep him from choking on his blood and then checked his pulse. After, she preformed CPR before the first responders arrived. Without her quick action its hard to say that the man would have made it until the paramedics came.

“It was very life altering,” Jones said. “I feel really good. I’m always on the lookout now just because you never know what’s going on around you.”

Tuesday, The American Red Cross recognized Destiny Jones during their annual Coastal Celebration of Heroes at the Norfolk Yacht and Country Club for local heroes that use their First Aid, CPR, AED training or other actions to save lives and make the community better. She was hailed as a remarkable good Samaritan for the courageous and selfless act that became the difference in a man dying and continuing to live another day. Jones is set to graduate from Bryant & Stratton College this Spring and hopes to one day become a physician assistant.