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NORTH ATTLEBORO - Laura Geraghty experienced role reversal while grocery shopping recently.

The North Attleboro resident performed CPR to revive a man who had collapsed in the produce section at Wal-Mart on Route 1.

Last April 1, Geraghty died for 57 minutes before 11 people revived her using CPR and an automated external defibrillator. She had entered sudden cardiac arrest while driving a handicapped accessible bus carrying a Newton South High School student in a wheelchair and a teacher's aide from Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

That story was featured on the front page of The Sun Chronicle last October.

"I've come full circle. I know what it's all about now," Geraghty said Sunday night. "It makes me 20 times more thankful for the work people did on me. It just shows me how much they invested in my life." Geraghty said that Thursday was her first time ever performing CPR on a person. She became American Red Cross certified in CPR after her incident, although "I've always known CPR."

She was carrying a pocket CPR device while grocery shopping around 3:15 p.m. Thursday, about three hours later than she had planned.

She saw "people running, and people screaming, 'Call 911,'" and went over to check things out.

A man was on the produce aisle floor, she said. One man was giving him breath, while the victim's wife was checking for his pulse.

Geraghty said she gave the victim compressions, helped by her device, and revived him before firefighters arrived.

"I think he was having a heart attack, due to the fact that his wife said he was complaining about a lot of chest pain before he went down," Geraghty said.

"It's a scary ordeal. I've never come into contact with something like this," she said.

Now, Geraghty wonders how he's doing - even though she still doesn't know his name.

"I even called the hospital that night," she said. "I just hope he lives."

MICHAEL GELBWASSER can be reached at 508-236-0439 or at mgelbwasser@thesunchronicle.com.