Mailman credited with saving customer

[Hum]

NORFOLK, VA (WAVY) - A Norfolk mailman potentially saved the life of one of his customers Monday afternoon.

David Fields, Navy veteran and mailman, says one of his customers, a man in his 80s on Shaffer Street, steps outside every day to talk. On Monday, Fields noticed the man's mail was piling up, and he had not stepped outside to chat in a few days.

"The only thing I saw was a pile of mail," Fields said. "I'm looking in it and that was last week's mail."

Fields said he knocked on the door and no one answered, and the man's vehicle was in the driveway. Fields says he then asked neighbors to call 911.

"I was nervous and I was hoping and praying the whole time he was alive," neighbor Monicia Gainer said.

When rescue crews went into the home, they found the elderly man alive. He had fallen in his bedroom and couldn't move.

"Just knowing someone being on their floor for a week [without food and water] just blew my mind," Fields said.

WAVY News contacted the hospital where the man was admitted, and was told he will be okay.

"I don't feel that I was a hero," Fields said. "I just feel that I was in a particular place and time to help someone out in need." :happy:

source & video

[Growled Member]

A lot of people these days would never had noticed anything was wrong. He did a good thing just by caring.

[DrJohnSmitherson]

It's good that he was there! It shows people need to pay attention to the little things.

[jnelsoninjax]

That's really good that the mail carrier noticed something was off. My grandfather used to walk a mail route, and I am surprised that it still happens in some areas.

[whitebread]

Good on him for noticing and caring :)

[Detection]

Nice, I was surprised he didn't get sacked, that tends to be the outcome of people doing nice things while at work and getting fired for it, like that life-guard who went to rescue someone just off his part of the beach and lost his job through it

[Hum]

Good job by the mailman.

Shame he appears to not have any caring relatives.

[LittleNeutrino Veteran]

anymore it is tough to find this sort of courtesy. most folks are afraid of being sued over privacy concerns or other law suits.

[Charisma Veteran]

That was really cool that he cared enough to pay attention. Also shows how important it is to try and socialise with those who "serve" you--be it the mailman, a food delivery or service person you see regularly, etc. Never know when you might need them to notice something is different than usual.

Heh, I live in an apartment so I never see the mailman. I'd be dead for weeks before anybody in the office finally noticed my box overflowing out of the grid. :laugh:

[Hum]

^ Just carry your cell phone with you. :laugh: