Not Ignoring Strangers
While delivering to cluster boxes on her route, Layton, UT, Rural Carrier Shauna Kirkman saw a man approaching who seemed to be confused. When he stumbled and nearly fell, Kirkman caught him, helped him sit down and called 911. Kirkman gave the man her jacket, comforted him and waited until an ambulance arrived. Rescue personnel said it appeared the man had a stroke.
“Heroes don’t start out to be heroes,” said Layton Postmaster Kevin Coombs, noting that Kirkman always has “gone the extra mile” for her customers. “They don’t wear badges that say ‘hero.’ You never know what you might be called upon to do while delivering your route.”
Barking Didn't Sound Right
Egg Harbor, NJ, PTF Carrier Fernando Vigo is normally wary of dogs on his route. But the uncontrolled barking of a cocker spaniel inside a house was enough to tell him that something was wrong. Vigo’s hunch was right — he spotted a fire and immediately called authorities. A spokesperson from the volunteer fire department said that without Vigo and the barks of the dog, the house would have burned to the ground.
A true act of kindness
Pensacola, FL, Letter Carrier Gene Kahl saw two things at a customer’s house that made him investigate further — mail accumulating in the mailbox and a car that hadn’t been moved in days. Kahl called the sheriff’s department. Deputies arrived and entered the home to find an elderly couple. The wife had died and the grieving husband was still at her side. He was taken to the hospital and treated for dehydration.
Pensacola News Journal.com photo.
“I could hear someone inside,” Kahl said, “but I couldn’t get them to come to the door.” Jeff Nall, spokesman for the Council of the Aging of West Florida, said, “Kahl’s act of kindness reminds us how important it is to watch out for neighbors.”
