An Arkansas man made a 1,200-mile trip to personally thank a class of fourth graders at St. Aidan School in Williston Park who helped him get through a desperate time in his life.

Ryan Christensen fell ill last January with severe migraine headaches.

"At that point, specialists had written me letters to get to the Mayo Clinic because I was dying at that point," Christensen says

Christensen's co-worker Matthew Robinson told his mother, Barbara Robinson, who is a fourth grade teacher at St. Aidan School.

"I heard about his situation, and I had asked the children to keep him in their prayers," Barbara Robinson says.

The students sent words of encouragement to Christensen in handwritten letters.

"I told him that he should just keep going, taking it like a champion and he's doing great," says Juliet Abbondondelo, a fourth grader at the school.

Christensen says the kindness of young strangers gave him the strength to recover.

"Coming out here I felt was my last opportunity to get them all together and tell them thank you for what they had did for me because I believe they saved my life," the Arkansas man says.

Christensen says he is hoping to stay in touch with the students through letters when he returns to Arkansas.