Asia Ford decided to run a 10K as part of her personal journey to get healthy. Her last steps inspired people in a way she never imagined.

Ford, who has lost more than 200 pounds in two years, was running the race in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday when she began to struggle and have trouble breathing after Mile 5. When paramedics checked on her, she told them that she wasn't stopping.

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Police Lt. Aubrey Gregory, who was standing nearby, decided to help.

"I said, I'm not going to let her stop. We're going to do this together," Gregory told NBC affiliate WAVE3. "So I got out and I grabbed her hand. I had to meet this inspirational woman."

"He was like my angel," Ford told the NBC affiliate. "He came at the moment I really needed him."

Photos of Ford crossing the finish line with Gregory have gone viral. Even Mayor Greg Fischer shared them on his Facebook page.

Ford took to Facebook herself to share her appreciation for the responses she's received online and in person.

And the young man to the left of Ford in the photo, her son Terrence, said he's inspired by his mother. "Looking at her and how she used to be, it's inspirational and makes me push harder to do the things I want to do in life," he told WAVE3.