Havertown resident Vince Cicione is alive today because of quick action from his daughter and two nurses, writes Nick Iadonisi for 6abc.
Cicione lost consciousness while participating in a St. Pius basketball tournament March 19, an annual fundraiser for the school.
“I went up and down the court a few times. All of a sudden I started feeling dizzy. I went down,” he said.
It was cardiac arrest.
“That’s when the girls jumped in.”
Cicione’s daughter Marissa Cicione got to him first and immediately started doing chest compressions and yelled out for a doctor or a nurse.
Nurses Kerri Pierangeli and Liz Babeuf came over. Babeuf continued the chest compressions while Pierangeli found an AED machine.
It saved Vince Cicione’s life.
“We witnessed a miracle that day. If you spoke to anyone in that gym they would all agree,” Marissa said. “It was absolutely amazing. I thought I had lost my dad. When he opened his eyes, there wasn’t a better feeling.”
Since the incident, Cicione has been able to welcome two grandchildren into the world.
“Without the three heroic girls I wouldn’t have gotten to meet them,” he said. “You can never thank them enough. They’re my new friends.”
Read more about this life-saving event at 6abc.
