NEW ORLEANS - Family members say a 3-year-old boy is responsible for saving his father's life after a shooting last week.

According to a report from WWL, 30-year-old Joshua Youngblood was shot twice while driving along Elysian Fields Avenue in New Orleans Wednesday. His son was in the back seat at the time and avoided the gunfire. 

Youngblood managed to continue driving for a short period, but he soon veered off the roadway and came to a stop. 

“When he called me on the phone and he said, ‘Mom I’m shot, I’m shot.’ He said, ‘Ma please hurry up, hurry up.' That's all that was on his mind for me to get that baby,” said Antionette Sumlin, Youngblood's mother.

The child in the back seat heard his father's phone call and climbed out of the car, seeking help at a nearby restaurant. 

“I told the people to come here my daddy got shot,” the boy said. “The people help him out of the car."

Youngblood is still hospitalized, but his mother says she is hopeful for a full recovery. In the meantime, she wants to know who shot her son and why.

To the best of her knowledge, she says her son has had his share of problems with the law in the past, but nothing though would cause someone to take his life.