An Alabama man, who spent over a week trapped inside his home after suffering a bad fall, has credited a concerned mail carrier with saving his life. Earlier this month, 66-year-old Tommy Hope fell in his Hope Hull home. He broke his arm and injured his hip and leg, and couldn’t get up from the floor. As WSFA reports, the situation was dire.
Hope lives alone in a rural and secluded area, and was physically unable to reach his phone. He also had limited access to water and food (according to the news outlet, the man was able to scoot on his back to the front door, where he kept a bucket of rain water).
Due to his injuries, Hope remained trapped in his house for 10 grueling days. Hope’s mail carrier, Cissy Cartwright, was the person who finally rescued him.
A 20-year veteran of the U.S. Postal Service, Cartwright says she grew worried after noticing that Hope hadn’t retrieved his mail in several days.When she approached the house, the front door was open. So Cartwright walked in and found Hope there, injured and dehydrated.
“I was in shock,” Cartwright told WSFA. “I’m just glad I found him when I did.”
According to The Associated Press, Hope was whisked to the hospital for treatment. He has since had surgery to repair his broken bones, and is currently undergoing rehabilitation.
As for Cartwright, she’s been nominated by Hope Hull’s postmaster Sherry Hughes for the Postmaster General’s Hero Award.
“When [Hope] was being put on the stretcher that day, he looked right up at me and said, ‘I knew she would come. She just saved my life,’” Hughes told WSFA. “I knew then that she has definitely earned her title as a hero, even though she will tell you she was just doing her job.”
Culled from Huffington Post
