A group of nurses in Illinois paid the bail for a father who was arrested after breaking traffic laws as he rushed to get his daughter to the hospital.

The man, who did not have a valid driver's license, was speeding to the hospital because his 1-year-old daughter was choking on a penny, according to St. Louis Fox affiliate Fox2Now

ADVERTISEMENT

He said police officers, with their sirens wailing, were chasing behind him by the time he got to the hospital.

"First thing on my mind was getting her to the hospital," the dad told the TV station, according to the video clip. "That's my daughter."

The father said he was told by the police he was driving more than 100 miles per hour and he and his wife were ordered to get out of the car when they got to the hospital.

"I got out, put my hands up, and I yelled and told the police my baby is choking," the mother told Fox2Now.

The father was then arrested and taken to jail.

But nurses from Touchette Regional Hospital in Centreville, Ill., decided to chip in to pay the man's bond.

"I can't thank them enough," the grateful father said.