Rural Carrier Associate John Flanagan Jr. was delivering mail recently in Swanton, MD, when he spotted a boater in trouble in the Savage River.
The man’s craft had overturned and he was struggling to get to safety.
Flanagan pulled over and called out to the man, telling him to swim to the nearest bank, across the river, while he summoned help.
The Postal Service employee alerted the state Department of Natural Resources while he drove to the other side to intercept the man.
At the bottom of a steep embankment, the man managed to grasp a limb of a fallen tree, and Flanagan was soon able to pull him out of the water.
Emergency responders, including a helicopter unit, arrived shortly afterward to provide further assistance.