Groomsmen save Ben York’s life, attend Concord wedding

Ben York, 18, married Brooke Hedgcoxe York Nov. 19 and the couple and their family were able to thank two special groomsmen for saving Ben’s life and making the wedding possible after a sudden cardiac arrest nearly killed him May 1.

Ben joined the U.S. Army in January 2022 and graduated basic training at Ft. Lenonard Wood. Three weeks before he was set to graduate job training, he went into cardiac arrest and his two bunkmates did CPR on him and his Drill Sergeant helped as well.

“They worked on him until they got the medics there. They didn’t give up on him and they had to shock him back to life using the paddles 10 times but thanks to them, he did survive,” said his grandmother Tammy Rose. “He was life flighted to Springfield, Missouri and was on life support for 24 hours,” she said.

Doctors warned the family that if Ben did wake up, he might be brain dead after such a traumatic event.

“We thank God over and over that he woke up after 24 hours and at first had a few memory problems but it all came back and he is absolutely fine,” said Tammy. “The doctors said it was a miracle.”

The two men who helped save his life – Josh Franklin and Tucker Ahrens – flew from Texas and Pennsylvania to attend the wedding at the Concord Event Center of their brother in arms.

Ben is the son of Autumn and Justin York and the oldest grandson of Bennie and Tammy Rose of Concord.