CENTREVILLE, Ill. – Nurses at an Illinois hospital paid a man's bail after he was arrested Thursday while racing his daughter to the hospital, according to KTVI.
Darius Hinkle told the St. Louis TV station he didn't have a valid license as he drove his 1-year-old daughter to the hospital. He said there were lights and sirens behind him for miles as his speed exceeded 100 mph.
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"The first thing in my mind was 'Get her to the hospital,'" Hinkle told KTVI.
When he arrived at the hospital, he was met with stern instructions from police.
"They told us to get out and put our hands up," said the girl's mother, Donecia Pittman. "And I got out, I put my hands up, and I yelled, and I told the police, 'My baby is choking.' And I told them multiple times that she was choking. They were just worried about the fact that we were speeding."
Hinkle said he was taken into custody at the hospital.
Pittman said she went to the jail to bail Hinkle out when she overheard someone was already there to bail him out.
"Somebody was up there and said 'I am here to bond out Darius Hinkle,'" Pittman said. "And I was looking like I didn't know who it was. And when I looked out the door to see who it was, she spoke and she says, 'I'm the nurse from Touchette (Regional) Hospital.'"
Hinkle and Pittman said they're thankful for the nurses bailing Hinkle out and for saving their daughter.
The hospital confirmed to KTVI that the nurses did chip in to pay the bail for the 1-year-old's father.
Police in Illinois reminded people to first call 911 to report an emergency.