"I remember holding my neck and saying, 'I can't breathe, I can't breathe,'" said bee sting allergy survivor, Greg Kronrad.
That's all Kronrad remembers about what happened outside his business in Wyandanch on Sunday.
He watched police body-camera video for the very first time on Tuesday, which captured the ordeal after the 72-year-old from Dix Hills was stung by a bee.
He's fully aware of what a close call this was.
"I only probably had a couple of minutes left I think, because of how hard it was to breathe," Kronrad said.
He's grateful that Suffolk County Police officers had a tool in their patrol cars that the county had only rolled out just three days before: EpiPens. But the battle for EpiPens in local police vehicles had actually been fought for far longer. Ever since Georgina Cornago had lost her 14-year-old son, Gio, to a food allergy 12 years ago, Gio's voice has been in her head.
"And some days I feel like giving up, but he just says, 'you have to do this, you have to do this. I'm the reason you're doing this,'" Cornago said.
Gio's law, legislation that's both bi-partisan, and now statewide, permits local municipalities outside the city to have the life-saving tool, not unlike Narcan, which used to save overdose patients. EpiPens are critical when there isn't much time for anaphylactic shock.
"He was on all fours. He was in respiratory distress," said Suffolk County Police Officer Brian Koch.
One mother's mission to turn pain into purpose has been met with life-changing results.
"I made Georgina a promise that I would not let this go," said Suffolk County Legislator Dominich Thorne.
Local lawmakers did not give up either.
On the local level, Suffolk County is the first in the state to take advantage of the law, at a cost of $25,000 thousand so far, nut they're hoping other counties take notice, because while Kronrad may be the first life saved, he won't be the last.
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