Capitol Police Officer Nicholas Simons was standing guard inside the Hart Senate Office Building around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday when a pedestrian ran inside and alerted him that a man appeared to be having a heart attack on the sidewalk.

Simons, 27, hustled outside and found the man in question reclined on a big stone bench along Constitution Avenue.

“He was laid back … his arms were stretched out … they appeared to be moving and quivering,” the cop told CQ Roll Call on Thursday, recounting the life-saving actions that earned him a hero’s praise around Capitol Hill. “You could definitely see he was under duress from his eyes.”