JACKSONVILLE, Ill. (WCIA) — A quick errand turned into a tragedy at a Jacksonville Walmart.

Sid Welles was waiting in the car while his wife Evelyn was picking up a gallon of milk. She collapsed — but luckily Steve Gilbreth, who knew CPR, was nearby.

Evelyn experienced ventricular fibrillation, a quivering of the heart muscles, leading to blood stoppage in September. Thankfully, Gilbreth gave her lifesaving CPR until paramedics got there.

“He literally saved my life, because if that hadn’t happened, I probably would not have survived at all from from what I have heard,” she said. “It was very bad, but everyone said it was a very bad scene. So I owe my life to him, my art, really all my life to do that gentleman.”

Evelyn says she’s talked to Gilbreth through thank-you cards and letters, but can’t wait to meet him and take a picture with him in person.