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Cop Saved By The Vest: 'It Was A Shot, Straight To The Heart'

CHICAGO (CBS) -- No question: Bullet proof vests save lives, and one Chicago police officer's story is a true testament to that.

Officer Michael Wrobel remembers the day on the job that could have been his last: June 6, 2014.

"When I got hit, I fell, came back up," he said. "Another one of our guys was yelling, his partner had got shot."

Wrobel and his partner made a traffic stop in Washington Heights.

The armed driver started shooting at police.

"It was a heart shot, straight to the heart," Wrobel said. "The vest stopped the bullet from going straight through."

Wrobel is now part of a public service campaign, called "Get Behind the Vest."

The campaign urges the public to donate to the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation. The goal is to raise $4 million to replace 8,000 vests for Chicago police officers.

Each officer is responsible for buying their own vest. They can range in price from $200 to up to $1,000, for those offering the most protection.

So far, about $500,000 has been raised for the campaign.

The effort is important because bulletproof vests have an expiration date.

They last about five years. So far, 2,900 new vests have been bought for the officers on Chicago's streets.

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