CEDAR FALLS -- Ron Saul dreaded driving nine hours to Evansville, Ind. He had no idea he would end up saving the life of a 4-year-old girl there.

Saul, a resident of Cedar Falls, had promised his daughter, Rachel, that he would drive her to Indiana to celebrate her boyfriend's high school graduation with his relatives in Evansville.

Saul admits that he didn't look forward to the long hours he would have to spend in the car.

"I just dreaded it," he said. "But apparently, God had other plans."

After Saul and his family reached the Fairfield Evansville Marriott Hotel, he and his wife, Waynette, who is Black Hawk County clerk of district court, intended to visit the exercise room. As they passed by the laundry room, a small boy ran in yelling something inaudible to a female employee inside.

When the woman came out yelling for someone to call an ambulance, Saul's instincts kicked in and he followed her to the outdoor pool area. She returned with the limp body of a girl who had been swimming in the pool.

Saul immediately responded to the female employee's desperate cries for help by taking the child from her and starting the CPR process.

"I just kept asking God to help me," Saul said. "I knew that this little girl was in God's hands, but I knew I could pray that I would be able to do all I could for her."

Saul, the safety director of Standard Golf Corp. in Cedar Falls, is required to attend CPR and First Aid training classes annually. His quick reaction allowed him to waste no time in putting what he had learned into practice.

"We require at least one CPR-certified employee on every shift," he said. "And I'm required to because of my position."

Another man reportedly rushed to Saul and the little girl and helped by performing the compressions. Saul frequently searched for a pulse, finding no response any of the times he checked.

"Her mother kept checking for a pulse, too, but every time I checked, she wasn't responding," he said.

Saul's wife and the girl's mother huddled together and prayed while the two men attempted to resuscitate the child for what "seemed like forever" to Saul. After five minutes, the girl began coughing and regained consciousness. The ambulance arrived moments later, taking her to a nearby hospital, but not before she could ask when she could return to the hotel's pool.

According to Saul, hotel personnel offered a free night's stay. He turned it down.

Throughout the entire ordeal, he stayed focused exclusively on saving the child's life, but afterward, Saul says he found it difficult to keep the emotional strain from catching up to him.

"It was so overwhelming, and after it's all over is when you realize what happened and that's when the tears come," he said.

After telling his story around the office, Saul reported that many other employees have inquired about the CPR training offered through Standard Golf.

"I'm just glad she's all right," he said. "I was just so happy that God put me in this situation. If it wasn't for Him, I wouldn't have even been able to do what I did."

When Saul inquired with a front desk clerk about the condition of the little girl, she was reported to be in good health and doing fine.