Sometimes ice cream saves lives, as a traffic police officer established in the Ukrainian city of Kharkov, handing over a cone to a man with diabetes, Segodnya.ua local news website reported on Tuesday.

The ill man, whose name was withheld, fell right in the street due to his health problems, but was ignored by most passers-by who mistook him for a drunk, the report said.

The only person to react was officer Vasily Maksimenko, 23, the website said. The man managed to get the words “low sugar” when approached by Maksimenko, who then bolted to a nearby store for some ice cream and brought it over to the man, who recovered upon eating the treat.

The incident took place in late May, but was not reported until this week. The man whose life was saved by ice cream requested Maksimenko’s superiors to award the officer for his actions, which resulted in an unspecified monetary bonus for Maksimenko, the report said.