Between barking dogs, rainy days and hours of walking, your mail carriers face a lot of challenges each day. However, none have proven to be too difficult for the persevering men and women in this occupation. Not only do they make sure your party invitations and birthday cards get delivered on time, but many have gone beyond the call of duty, even saving the lives of their loyal customers. The most recent mail carrier to become a local hero was Cissy Cartwright.
According to NBC, Cartwright has been working for the U.S. Postal Service in Hope Hull, Alabama for 20 years. When she noticed a local man in the rural town hadn’t taken in his mail in an uncharacteristically long time, Cartwright decided to investigate. Instead of passing by to the next mailbox, she walked up the long driveway to the home where she noticed the front door was wide open. Being a tenured mail carrier in the community, Cartwright knew Hope had long suffered from back problems, so she called to him. He responded, and inside, Cartwright discovered 66-year old Tommy Hope lying on the floor, dehydrated with broken bones. He had fallen and been trapped there for 10 days. Luckily, Cartwright was able to call for assistance and save the man’s life. Now, this long-time mail carrier is being hailed a local hero.
This exciting story isn’t the first example of a U.S. Postal Service worker stepping up in a time of need. Check out these other stories in which mail carriers have saved the day.
Widefield, Colorado
William Searuggs has been working for USPS for 15 years, and his duty as a mail carrier recently extended beyond delivering greeting cards. According to KKTV, Searrugs approached the home of 86-year-old Max Patterson in January 2015, as he normally did on his daily routine in the Widefield, Colorado neighborhood. As he delivered the mail, he discovered Patterson inside the home, calling for help. The senior customer had fallen outside and hit his head but managed to crawl back into the home. Searrugs jumped into action, grabbing a towel from the kitchen and holding it to the Patterson’s bleeding head. The mail carrier then called 911, saving Patterson’s life.
Greer, South Carolina
Mail carrier Chris Brown was delivering mail on a Friday as he always had in his 24 years of service with USPS. However, things quickly changed as he approached the home of Stephanie Cooper in Greer, South Carolina. According to WYFF, just as Brown was delivering the mail, Cooper frantically ran out of her house carrying her 11-month-old son, Eli, who had swallowed a piece of plastic and was choking. Without saying a word, Brown took the baby and immediately started doing the Heimlich maneuver. Brown managed to dislodge the plastic from Eli’s airway, saving the baby’s life. Fortunately, Brown had learned the Heimlich in his post office training. I guess as a mail carrier, you never know what condition you’ll find your customers in.
Remember, you never know what sort of day your local postal worker has faced. Next time you pass along a greeting card, be sure to thank your mail carrier!