SPOKANE, Wash. -

Tomi Wheeler may be the unsung hero of the deputy shootings on Tuesday, being the first one to arrive on scene to help wounded Spokane County Sheriff deputies Matt Spink and Mike Northway.

"The whole time I was like I can't let him die, I can't let him die," Wheeler said.

Gunshots, blood and sirens didn't stop Wheeler on June 19.

"I just hopped out of my car and did it. He's lying on the ground bleeding, there is no other option," she said.

It began as a "plain" day, as Wheeler calls it. She had cleaned and organized her home and then in the afternoon it was time to head to the YMCA in North Spokane where Wheeler teaches aerobics.

"I always cut through the cute little neighborhoods in that area, it's just kind of a thing I do," she said.

Wheeler always takes a different way to work. She never knows where she'll end up but she never thought it would be here. At first, Wheeler heard gunshots and then saw an SUV come racing through, she ducked and then dove right in.

"If I died doing something like that, I know my family would be proud of me," Wheeler said.

Wheeler found deputy Northway lying on the ground. Matt Spink was still standing and calling for back-up. Wheeler isn't a deputy, but for a few minutes she was their back-up.

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Aerobics instructor turned lifesaver in deputy shooting