GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Nothing stops the mail from being delivered and it's a good thing: Wilma Daley is credited with saving one of the neighbors on her route during an icy day last December.
Retired Kentwood police officer Bob Streeter had fallen on his driveway and was lying in the cold, numb on his right side.
"The month of December we do our post runs in the morning," Daley explained. "So, I just happened to be out here early and I was able to find him early enough."
Streeter estimates that he had been lying outside for at least 30 minutes.
"I'm pushing the trash cart out, slipped, feet went up from under me. The trash cart went off the street and I fell on my right shoulder and broke it," Streeter said. "I thought I would die to be honest with you; I thought I would freeze to death."
Daley was able to flag down someone to help her get Streeter back into his home.
He was taken to the hospital to be checked out and was able to go home that day, where Daley returned to check on him.
Streeter was so grateful that he alerted the United States Postal Service about the good deed.
Daley was recognized with the Postmaster General Hero Award, the highest honor a postal employee can receive.
"This is my job, you know; I'm out to look out for people. And if I can help them, I will," said Daley. "It's nice to be recognized and nice to have the acknowledgment and to be recognized through the post office that I've done something, you know ... above and beyond the call of duty."
Daley had been working the route for nearly four years.
The veteran mail carrier has been with USPS for 25 years.
