Being a mail carrier means braving the elements on a daily basis and the seasons are constantly changing.
They brave the frigid cold, hurdle heaps of snow, navigate rainstorms and wade through mud.
They also face unimaginable events during a typical workday.
There’s the hysterical story of the tom turkey who endlessly harassed a mailman in Wisconsin.
One mail carrier was tooling along his route when he came upon a resident’s home on fire.
He grabbed the garden hose and tried extinguishing it while waiting for first responders to arrive.
They’ve spied lost pets and helped reunite them with their grief-stricken owners.
They’ve unknowingly broken up drug rings.
Then there are the postal carriers witnessing crimes and alarming incidents unfolding before their very eyes who call 911 for help.
Mail carrier Stephen Garofalo delivers mail in the small town of Wayne, N.J.
He’s quite well known in the area, having delivered mail for more than 30 years.
He knows the neighborhoods he traverses through daily like the back of his hand.
He easily recognizes when something is out of sorts or amiss.
One day, Stephen was traveling his route when he noticed a two-year-old aimlessly wandering around outdoors without any adult supervision.
No older siblings, no babysitters, no parents.
Instantly alarmed, Stephen stopped. He usually saw the little boy with his mom, but not today. Something was wrong.
Stephen threw his mail truck into park and hopped out, cautiously approaching the toddler.
He asked him where his mommy was.
The little boy seems frightened and agitated.
He gestured toward his house, indicating his mom was indoors.
“…when I grabbed the child I said, ‘Where’s your mother?’ and he pointed inside.”
Stephen quickly assessed the little boy’s condition and determined that he seemed okay, so he hustled inside to check on the mom.
What he found shocked him to his core.
He never expected to find this along his route. The little boy’s mom, Stephanie Wilson, was unconscious and hunched over the toddler’s empty stroller.
The veteran mail carrier attempted to rouse the mom, but she was unresponsive.
He called 911 for help and stayed by her side, keeping an eye on the little boy.
She was rushed to the hospital where a medical team determined that Stephanie had suffered a terrible reaction to some of her medications that rendered her unconscious while she was caring for her son alone.
According to doctors, her medical emergency could have had a much different outcome if Stephen hadn’t noticed the toddler alone and investigated the situation.
“If it wasn’t for him, the EMT wouldn’t have gotten there as quickly and I wouldn’t have been brought to the hospital.”
Because of his efforts, the United States Postal Service presented Stephen with the rare Life-Saving Award.
“I feel like I’m part of this community. Actually, I’m here more than my own community.”
Stephanie is forever grateful for what Stephen did for her.
“Every time I see him, he says ‘How are you doing today? I say I’m doing good and thank you very much. I thank him every day.”
Hear Stephanie’s story firsthand in the video below.
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