WASHINGTON — (CNN) Good thing Danette Purvis paid attention in that CPR class she took. She ended up putting those new skills to work to save a man’s life the very next day.

Purvis was in a meeting in her boss’ office in Washington when a 63-year-old co-worker suddenly went into cardiac arrest.

“I immediately grabbed his arm and shook him and like called his name, ‘Are you okay, are you okay?'” Purvis told CNN affiliate WJLA.

Thankfully for him, Purvis knew exactly what to do.

“Instantly everything came back to me about the CPR and I just started chest compressions immediately,” she said.

The day before Purvis attended CPR training at the Bennett Institute, a cosmetology school.

And she thinks the timing of all this is more than good luck. She calls it “divine intervention.”

“I’m like nobody’s going to believe this if I tell them this,” she said. “They are are not going to believe. They’re going to think I’m lying.”

Purvis and her other co-workers were honored Wednesday by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser.

The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved. (photo: Danette Purvis Facebook)