American truck driver Mike Schiotis, his voice quaking and eyes tearing up, told a group of trucking journalists last night how he saved a passers-by’s life and how he was scared that he was going to die.

Schiotis, a driver for Panther Expedited Services Inc., was en route to his destination in Pennsylvania when he noticed a female pedestrian with a man walking closely behind her. He slowed to take a closer look and realized the man had a gun.

That’s when the fear hit. He had one hand on the gear shift while thinking that everything would be okay if he just kept driving, reports Today’s Trucking.  “But, something inside me made me stop.”

Thinking quickly, Mike stopped his truck and stepped between the man and the woman. He ushered the woman into his truck and drove away as the gunman returned to his car and began following Mike’s rig. Working with another truck driver, Mike evaded the gunman, giving law enforcement officials enough time to arrive on the scene.