BURLESON, Texas (CBS News Texas) – In a life-threatening situation, a Kroger employee stepped in and saved a co-worker’s life – all on his first day on the job.

Shane Condon is an assistant store manager at Kroger in Burleson and received a hero award on Wednesday.

His family had just moved here from Colorado in June, and as Condon was being shown around the store on his first day of work, he noticed that an employee had collapsed.

Another employee called 911, and the operator instructed Condon through CPR for four minutes until emergency medical personnel arrived.

The man he saved was Ray Choate, a 21-year-old employee of the store. He suffered a heart attack.

“The breaker blew a fuse and shorted a wire, so I went out to get some more tools and when I came back in I felt faint and that’s the last thing I remember,” Choate said. “I woke up in the hospital.”

Doctors said quick resuscitation saved his life.

“I was really scared that I had done more harm than good because this had never happened to me before. But when I found out he had survived, I just thanked God,” Condon said.

The two had never met before the heart attack.

On Wednesday they shook hands for the first time and are now hoping for the beginning of a friendship.

© 2024 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All rights reserved.