When Dr Khurshid Guru heard there was a child suffering an asthma attack aboard his transatlantic flight last week, the quick-thinking physician came to the rescue armed only with a plastic water bottle, a cup, some tape and an oxygen tank.

As director of robotic surgery at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in upstate New York, Dr Guru is no stranger to innovative gadgets, but he usually does not work with young patients.

But when faced with an emergency tens of thousands of feet in the air aboard an Air Canada flight from Spain to the US, Dr Guru saved the day, earning himself comparisons to MacGyver - a fictional character from the eponymous 90s TV show best known for his incredible resourcefulness.

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Paging Dr MacGyver! Dr Khurshid Guru, director of robotic surgery at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, pieced together this makeshift nebulizer to administer oxygen and asthma medication to a sick 2-year-old boy on board a transatlantic flight

Everyday items: Guru used a plastic water bottle, a cup, some tape, an oxygen tank and an adult inhaler to help the toddler, who was having trouble breathing after his parents had forgotten to take his asthma medication

Courtesy WGRZ

Guru, who is married and lives in Buffalo, New York, was returning home September 18 after attending a medical conference in Bilbao, Spain, when he was told that a toddler on board the plane was in medical distress.

The parents of the boy, a 2-year-old, told Guru they had accidentally packed their son's asthma medication in their luggage, reported ABC News.

They were more than four hours into a seven-and-a-half hour flight, and the child was crying and experiencing trouble breathing.

Inventor: Dr Guru develops robotic surgical devices, but he usually does not work with young patients

An oxygen meter showed that the toddler's oxygen level was alarmingly low and his condition appeared to be deteriorating.

Dr Guru said he knew the little boy needed both oxygen and asthma medication, but the plane only came equipped with an adult asthma inhaler that requires the patient to breathe in the medicine.

That is when Dr Guru, who in his day job develops robotic surgical devices, switched on his creativity and cobbled together a makeshift nebulizer.

The physician turned to items that he had on hand: an oxygen tank, a plastic water bottle and a length of electrical tape.

He hooked up the adult inhaler to a hole in the the bottle and added oxygen through another opening he had made so the boy could inhale both simultaneously.

In an effort to make it easier for the toddler to use his contraption, Guru modified his design by cutting a hole in a plastic cup and mounting it atop the bottle so that it could fit against his mouth and nose.

About 30 minutes later, the boy began showing signs of improvement.

By the time the plane landed, the 2-year-old was playing with his mother as if nothing happened.

Dr Guru said he decided to share the story to remind parents of kids suffering from asthma the importance of keeping their medication at hand at all times.

'It's a personal wake up call for families to make sure you carry these small things,' he told the station WGRZ.