Jeronda Mallory comes home
<p dir="ltr"><span>Nearly two months after her horrifying ordeal, Perryville resident Jeronda Mallory was released from St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo., on Tuesday.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>"She's back to her old self," said Bobbi Ford, Mallory's niece, in a Facebook message to the Herald Tribune. "She just needs a little help walking."</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Mallory had been hospitalized since June 5, when several Water Street Inc. employees rescued her from the Kaskaskia River after her minivan jumped the rope guardrail in front of the Evansville business and plunged into the water around 10 p.m. that night.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Evansville Fire Chief Darren Kempfer previously told the Herald Tribune that Mallory, who was intoxicated at the time, had thought the vehicle was in reverse when it was in drive.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>"She is a strong woman and definitely a fighter and a survivor," said Water Street Inc. General Manager April Wright. "It was quite scary and shocking, but it happened."</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Water Street Inc. cook James Dean Inman jumped into the water, broke the driver's side window of the half-submerged minivan and dragged the unconscious Mallory to shore.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>There, Wright and bartender Kari Balckmon performed CPR on Mallory until emergency services arrived.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Mallory was taken to Red Bud Regional Hospital and then transferred to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>"We were all praying for her and with what we did, it definitely kept her alive and the hospital did a great job with her," Wright said.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>After a lengthy recovery process at Barnes-Jewish, Mallory was later transferred to St. Francis to begin rehabilitation.</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>"All the people in the bar still ask about her and the workers who haven't been in touch with the family have been praying," Wright said. "We've all been praying."</span>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Wright added that Water Street Inc. is currently looking for bartenders and cooks. Those interested can call 618-340-2072.</span>