One Minnesota man was inspired to turn his life around after he was arrested for drunk driving in 2017 — and he credits the kindness of the officer who responded for inspiring him to do it.

Jake Bosacker was 21 years old when he was arrested on Sept. 9, 2017, according to ablog postfrom the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. At the time, he had recently decided to take some time off from school and move back in with his parents to get sober. However, soon after he returned home, he got into trouble.

“I was downtown with some friends and tried to make it back home after having a few drinks,” Bosacker told CBS affiliateWCCO.

Minnesota State Patrol Trooper Keenan Jones was already back at the station when he received a call about another erratic driver on the highway.

“I had arrested two more impaired drivers that night. For a second there, I was like, ‘I’m tired, I don’t want to go out, I don’t want to get one more, I don’t want to do this paperwork,’ " Jones recalled in the Minnesota DPS blog post. “But it wasn’t in me to let it go. So out of good faith, I had to go investigate.”

Upon his arrival, Jones saw that Bosacker was “covered in blood,” according to WCCO.

“He was pretty, pretty upset, emotional about what was going on,” Jones said, explaining that in the moment, Bosacker thought that “he had ruined every chance” he had of fulfilling his dream of becoming a police officer one day.

As for what happened next, Bosacker told the outlet that while he doesn’t remember exactly what the officer told him, Jones “comforted me.”

“He said that my life isn’t over, and that there might be some work that needs to be done, but the journey can start tonight,” he shared.

Now, four years later, Bosacker is sober, happily married and a college graduate, per the outlet.

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Although the pair have yet to meet in person, they have been in touch — and Bosacker has been able to express his profound gratitude for everything Jones did for him.

“Thank you for saving my life that night, and possibly somebody else’s,” Bosacker said over a Zoom call with Jones, according to WCCO.

As for a future in law enforcement, Bosacker said “we’ll just see where the road takes us.”

Having somebody reach “out to me to express gratitude, that’s never happened to me in my career,” he said in the Minnesota DPS blog post. “I don’t think you understand how much I appreciate it.”

source: people.com