AURORA, Colo. -- A woman walking her kids to school in Aurora ended up saving a life when she took a second look at something on the sidewalk.

Originally, Sheila Rhodes thought the dark mass on the sidewalk last month was a pile of trash.

"I turned the corner, and I don't know what made me turn back around," Rhodes told the Aurora Sentinel newspaper. When she looked again, Rhodes realized the dark mass was a man.

Arthur James, 82, had been taking his morning walk near Utah Park when he suffered a heart attack and collapsed.

Rhodes recognized James as a neighbor.

"When I got to him, there was no heartbeat," she said.

She called 911 and called her sister, who lives with her, who then performed CPR.

"I know she did 5 reps of 30. She kept his heart going until the ambulance got there," Rhodes said.

James is recovering at the Spalding Rehabilitation facility. He is a retired physical education teacher at Denver Public Schools and was known in the neighborhood for his daily walks.

"He's had triple bypass (but) he's alive," said his daughter, Carla James. "We couldn't think of a way to thank this person. I told my sister, 'Oh my god, we have an angel in the midst of our life for the holidays.'"

Rhodes insist she's not an angel or a hero.

"I just happened to be in the right spot in the right time," Rhodes said. "I just hope that somebody else would do it for somebody else in need. It made me grateful to my grandparents."

Read more about this rescue from our partner, the Aurora Sentinel newspaper.