. >> reporter: in chicago, 15-year-old nathan lane isn't deaf but while his mom and sister at a coffee shop a robber came threatening to kill everyone. nathan grabbed her phone and texted her dad. >> don't come back, robber in here, call 911. >> reporter: nathan had the presence of mind to delete the text. >> and right after i texted my dad he came in, threatening to kill us for calling 911, in which case we didn't. >> reporter: but nathan's dad got the message. >> because it was spelled out correctly i did not think it was a prank. >> i was afraid my dad would call us. >> reporter: he called 911 and then sent a one-word message, done. by the time he got back to the coffee shop the police were there, everyone okay. >> i'm hungry. >> i know you're hungry. >> reporter: as for nathan you'd think he'd be rewarded with a cell phone upgrade. he had to surrender his phone to his parents. >> even teenage heroes need to still get good grades and have good attitudes. >> reporter: even teenage heroes have to have good grades. we talked about the fact most 911 centers can't receive text messages.