CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — A woman is lucky to be alive today all thanks to a total stranger. CPR classes over the years came in handy last week, in a place one hero never expected.

Last Friday Sherri Gonzalez put her CPR skills to the test while paying a bill and running errands. She was in the right place at the right time when there was a medical emergency at Champaign’s DMV.

“She should be, she should be alive. Like they should have this stuff in place, that should have been helping her before the paramedics got there,” Gonzalez said.

On Friday afternoon, Gonzalez was at Champaign’s DMV, thinking it would be a regular day.

“I went to wait in line to pay for my driving abstract when I noticed a female laid out on the floor, she had collapsed,” Gonzalez said.

She said some people were standing around to see if the woman was breathing. Once someone shouted that she wasn’t, Gonzalez and another person immediately jumped into action.

“The female started doing chest compressions, and I was giving the woman mouth to mouth, giving her her breaths,” Gonzalez said.

They continued to perform the techniques for about eight minutes until the paramedics showed up. It’s something Gonzalez learned from taking care of her dad who was on hospice. But, she thought the skills she had been taught were all for nothing.

“It was my understanding before I left the DMV that she had passed away there,” Gonzalez said.

But that wasn’t the case when she got a call from an employee the next day. The person who called was someone who saw the situation unfold, and they told her the woman who collapsed was still alive.

“That was like a boulder off of my chest because I was crying. I mean, I got in the car, and I couldn’t stop crying,” Gonzalez said.

The American Heart Association wants more lives to be saved in the future. The organization recommends that one person in every household learns CPR. That’s something Gonzalez agrees with.

“Because when you’re working in companies like this, you get people in and out. You never know what’s going to happen. Somebody needs to be able to act before the paramedics or the police or somebody else who is trained gets there, you know?” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said she wants to connect with the woman she helped. She also said after the situation she went home and ordered CPR rescue masks to keep with her at all times.