Kayla Berridge is a postal employee in New Hampshire and as she was walking in New Market during her shift, she noticed mail that hadn’t been picked up for days.
The resident’s car was still parked as well.
It was a woman in her 80s, one Berridge would chat to, so she became concerned knowing the posts were untouched.
Berridge knew she had to act so she requested a wellness check on the home. She notified the postmaster, who in turn called for a welfare check by Newmarket police.
“I just had a gut feeling and I just wanted to make sure,” she told WMUR. “Most people put a hold in if they’re not there, so when people pick up their mail every day, you start to notice their habits.”
The Newmarket Police Department responded to the call and soon found the woman trapped on the floor of her bedroom.
Responding officers say she’d been there at least 3 days.
“She realized it was an elderly person,” said Lt. Wayne Stevens, the first detective to arrive at the scene. “Usually, a lot of times communicates with her throughout the week … if not on a daily basis, and realized there was something that might have been astray and did the right thing by contacting us.”
Lt. Stevens gained access t the home thanks to another officer who had visited the woman before.
He heard the woman faintly yelling for help as he knocked on the door.
The woman was on her bedroom floor with various objects on top of her. Officers say she tried to grab her bed for support, but that caused all the objects to come crashing down on her.
They took her to Exeter Hospital where she waas diagnosed with dehydration and hypothermia.
Kayla looks for mail piling up, no outgoing mail, or a car left parked in the driveway for a long time before she thinks of calling for help. The woman is on her way to recovery thanks to Kayla.
“Newmarket is a great little town. Everyone has each other’s backs,” she said.
This isn’t the first time police have responded to a wellness check that’s requested by a mail carrier. But Lt. Stevens says they rarely find someone in need of help.
“It is this department’s belief that Kayla’s knowledge of the people on her route as well as her attentiveness saved the life of this resident,” wrote Lt. Stevens in a Facebook post.
But Kayla doesn’t think she’s a “hero”. She was just glad to help.
“Yeah, it’s crazy. it’s crazy just by paying attention to details how much you could save someone’s life,” she said. “I like this job because I love my customers and getting to know them, and I feel like if people cared more and just paid attention … something we should all do.”
Kayla says the moral of the story is really simple.
“And that’s why it’s important to pick up your mail,” she said.
Watch the video below for more on Kayla’s heroic act.
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