Rural Carrier Associate Hannah Parks was delivering packages to a residence in Payette, ID, one day last winter when she saw an alarming sight through the window beside the front door:
A woman was sprawled out motionless on the floor in her kitchen.
The customer roused when Parks knocked on the glass, but she was disoriented and motioned frantically for help.
Unable to find a way in, the Postal Service employee called 911 and encouraged the woman to crawl to the door and unlock it by the time paramedics arrived to provide further assistance.
Several days later, the customer was back home and greeted Parks enthusiastically when she stopped by with another delivery: “I’m so glad to see you!”
“She’s doing a lot better,” Parks told the Argus Observer newspaper. “I was in the right place at the right time.”
She added words of advice for her fellow postal employees: “Just help out, any way you can. We go to people’s houses every day.”