NBCChicago.com

Jordyn Rose

A quick-thinking Chicago doorman helped save a 4-month-old girl who was having trouble breathing as her parents struggled to find a cab to the hospital during the city's St. Patrick's Day celebration.

Matthew and Kristin Howeth rushed out of their apartment building Saturday after their baby, Jordyn Rose, started screaming and gasping for air, NBC Chicago reported.

As Jordyn Rose's face became pale and her lips turned blue, the Howeths tried to get a cab to a nearby hospital — nearly impossible in the St. Patrick's Day traffic.

That's when Dwayne Neff, a doorman at a neighboring hotel, jumped into action. He told NBC Chicago it had taken him 25 minutes to hail cabs for hotel guests Saturday and he knew the couple wouldn't have success.

After he noticed the Howeths struggling, he sprinted down the street and alerted two police officers in a patrol car. The officers put the Howeths in the back of their car and rushed them to Lurie Children's Hospital.

"It was truly a case of divine intervention," Officer Karen Wojcikowski told NBC Chicago. "We were at the right place at the right time."

The couple said calling an ambulance never crossed their minds.

"We just both went into like survival mode," said Kristin Howeth. “In hindsight, maybe we should have called an ambulance, but the officers ended up getting us to the hospital faster than an ambulance would have."

Jordyn Rose was stabilized and tested at the hospital, but there was no clear indication why she was struggling to breathe, NBC Chicago said.

Her parents said it could have been an allergic reaction. Jordyn Rose was baptized Sunday.

"This girl is everything to us, and when we saw her acting the way that she was it scared us beyond belief," said Matthew Howeth. "We can't thank them enough for their fast acting and how concerned they were for us."

This story was originally published on Mon Mar 18, 2013 11:54 AM EDT