(KLFY)- It’s a friendship they say will last forever because of one man’s bravery to help a woman when she was most in need.

Rickey Viltz says, “I would do it again. I just wish I could have done more.”

“You should have seen him.  There was no pause,” Brittany Smith continues.

It’s a question we’ve all asked ourselves.

What would we do?

For Rickey Viltz, there was no hesitation.

As soon as he heard Brittany Smith’s purse had been stolen from her shopping cart at a local Walmart, he jumped in to help.

Viltz adds, “We are all human. We come from the same place. The only difference is the shade of our skin.”

Viltz says he and his brother followed the thieves’ car all the way to Broussard.

That is when he says the purse was thrown out of the window.

“I have a mother, sister, young kids. It could have been them. I would want someone to help them,” explains Viltz.

When the red Camero drove up at Walmart 20 minutes later, Brittany says she dropped to her feet when Rickey got out with her purse in hand.

“She was so happy. It made me happy that I did something right,” explains Viltz.

Although money and credit cards were stolen from the purse, Brittany says what she thinks about most now is the kindness of a stranger and a new friend she has in her life.

Smith continues, “You’re brave and strong. God put you here for reason.”