A 16-year-old boy delivered a heartfelt thank you Friday to the woman who saved his life.

Troy Ross was with friends shopping at Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights on Thursday when he began choking on a piece of candy.

"At first I tried to cough it up. I thought maybe it was stuck, but that didn't work, so I tried giving myself the Heimlich. That didn't work," Ross said.

Ross gestured to his friends that he was choking, but they thought he was joking.

Jennifer Potts is the manager at the American Eagle store in the mall. She saw what was happening.

"He looked freaked out. His eyes were bugging and then he came over and he made the symbol for choking and I just automatically acted," Potts said.

Potts is certified in CPR and knew exactly what to do.

"I just put my arms around him and felt for the sternum as fast as I could and just quick upward motions as hard as I could," Potts said.

Her action did it. Troy survived.

On Friday, Troy Ross paid a special return visit to Jennifer at the mall to deliver a bouquet of flowers and a special thank you for Jennifer's life-saving act.