ROCKWOOD, Mich. – A 10-year-old boy says he's alive today thanks to a chance encounter with a Rockwood police officer.
"It felt like someone was holding my throat and choking me," said Nick McArthur.
That's how he described an asthma attack he had on Monday morning while getting ready for school.
The instant it happened Nick's mother put him in the family's SUV, and sped off to the hospital.
"He's telling me that he can't breathe. I'm like, 'Oh my god,' and so then I start panicking," said Rhonda McArthur, Nick's mom.
Rhonda said Nick was almost running out of breath when she ran a red light and an officer pulled her over.
"I thought this was going to take forever," said Nick.
That's when Officer Nicholas Mitchell realized something wasn't right.
"I could hear somebody in the car with very labored breathing; couldn't breathe at all," said officer Mitchell.
Rhonda says Mitchell realized something was wrong right away.
"He walked up to the car, and his first question was, 'Is he OK?' And I was just like, 'Oh my god, no, no he's not OK," said Rhonda.
Officer Mitchell immediately sprang into action to help, but with now ambulances available, it was up to him to help save Nick.
"Officer Mitchell just said, 'Let's go, get in the car,' and he drove us all the way to the hospital, lights and sirens, as fast as he could," said Rhonda.
Doctors said Nick arrived at the hospital just in time.
"It makes me feel good and that's why I do this job, to help people," said Mitchell.