'Thank God For Him:' Restaurant Manager Saves Long Island Grandmother's Life

COMMACK, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A Long Island restaurant manager and grandmother of three were strangers until he saved her life.

CBS2 obtained the surveillance video showing that life-saving moment. The manager gives the woman CPR as worried friends surround them.

As CBS2's Jessica Borg reports, the local hero has a special expertise in helping others.

"It makes you realize what's important in life," Danielle Villar said.

What's important to Villar is that her 72-year-old mom is going to be OK.

"She's a main member of the family. She lives with us. My children have grown up with her," Villar said.

The grandmother of three, Rosemarie Scitacariello, suddenly didn't have a pulse while dining at a restaurant in Commack, Long Island.

"Really it was her guardian angel looking out for her, because if she was at home, she easily could have passed away," Villar said.

That guardian angel was Sangria 71 restaurant manager Antonio Dias. But the humble father of two says he's no hero.

"I have done my share of mistakes. When it comes to humanitarian reasons, I'm all in all the time," he told CBS2's Jessica Borg, choking back tears.

Thirty years ago, Dias was a Medic in the U.S. Army. His instinct Thursday was to put his life-saving skills to work.

Scitacariello was sitting at a table with her childhood best friend and six college friends. It was a reunion lunch, and the women had been sharing photographs when a waiter noticed Scitacariello was slumped over her seat, Borg reported. Dias started mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

"I noticed that her tongue was actually obstructing the airways, and I managed to open up the airwaves and get some air into her, and then I started compressions," he said.

He continued those compressions until reviving her and paramedics arrived.

"Thank god for him," Villar said.

At home with a newborn, Villar called Dias to tell him just that.

"I was at the right place at the right time," he said. "She's well-deserving of a long-lasting life."

Dias and Villar say it highlights how important it is for everyone to know CPR because you never know what you'll need to be the one to step in and save someone.

Scitacariello is still recovering at the hospital, and doctors are trying to figure out what caused her to lose consciousness. Her daughter says she has had heart issues in the past.