Dr. James Jude of Coral Gables, Florida, a surgeon who saved the lives of countless Bahamian children and adults, died on Tuesday, July 28 in Florida, from complications from a rare Parkinson's disease-related ailment. He was 87. R.E. Barnes, chairman of the Sir Victor Sassoon (Bahamas) Heart Foundation, said the foundation had been fortunate having had Dr. Jude's assistance over several decades.

"A great many children here were operated on by Dr. Jude, as well as a number of adults in the days when the foundation did adult surgeries as well," said Barnes. "Dr. Jude's wisdom was of great help to the Heart Foundation through the years and will be missed."

In 1960, Dr. Jude developed the modern cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) technique. CPR has saved many thousands of lives as a method to keep the heart beating until medical personnel can reach a person suffering a heart attack. Previously the only way a patient could be saved was to open the chest and manually massage the heart.

CPR is taught in The Bahamas by the Red Cross. The Bahamas Heart Association also hosts CPR training. Many local cardiologists worked with Dr. Jude when he worked his clinics in The Bahamas and performed surgeries on children at Princess Margaret Hospital.

Dr. Jude performed the live saving surgeries free of charge. Dr. Jude moved to Miami in 1964 and worked at the University of Miami School of Medicine and Jackson Memorial Hospital. He also worked in private practice from 1971 until 2000 and performed surgeries at numerous hospitals including Mercy, Baptist and Northridge General in Ft. Lauderdale. He remained an honorary trustee of the Sassoon Heart Foundation.

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