Victoria Williams, left, speaks Thursday, Jan. 26, about the importance of CPR for a video for Butler Health System, after her life was saved by a stranger who administered CPR on her when she suffered a cardiac arrest last year. Shane Potter/Butler Eagle

The last memory Victoria Williams has of New Year’s Eve 2022 is making small talk in the stationery aisle at Target with two strangers alongside her 11-month-old daughter.

Williams woke up in the intensive care unit at Butler Memorial Hospital a few days later to learn that she collapsed at the store without warning, and was saved by one of the strangers in the aisle who performed CPR on her.

“I thought I was just going on my biweekly Target run,” said Williams of Chicora, a nurse at Butler Memorial Hospital. “Had I not been that close to someone who knew CPR, I may not be here. They saved my brain function.”

While the stranger in the aisle turned out to be a nurse at Butler Memorial Hospital who was trained in CPR for her job, Williams said she doesn’t want to leave the fate of other heart attack victims up to chance.

The classes scheduled for Feb. 11 begin at 8 a.m., 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., and tuition for each has been paid for by Williams’ family. To register for the classes, call 724-284-4699 or email education@butlerhealthsystem.org.