Local mail courier lends a helping hand

One local letter carrier is honored for going above and beyond the call of duty.

Every morning Ricky Jones starts out by loading his truck with letters. But it was a detour from that daily routine one hot July day that made Ricky a hero.

"I parked my vehicle, got out the vehicle, and as I walked up that's when I could see there had been a situation," says Jones.

From the street he had noticed one of his customers sitting in her driveway. Once he decided to stop his route and check on her, he realized something was wrong.

"As I got closer that's when I observed she had taken a fall, a pretty bad fall," Jones recalls.

The sight shocked him at first. It wasn't the kind of house call he was used to.

He dialed 911 and stayed with the woman until help arrived.

"I just kind of sat down with her to kind of calm her," says Jones.

On Thursday morning Ricky was honored by the Postal Service for his good deed.

Officials say while Ricky was singled out for this award, he isn't alone when it comes to letter carriers and lending a hand.

"They know their customers and take care of them, and they're part of the family in most cases," says John Oross, the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch.

Jones says he's talked to the woman's son since her fall. According to him, she spent a few weeks in the hospital, but is doing better now.

He's now back to his old routine. Never wondering what might have been if he hadn't put aside the swift completion of his appointed rounds to see to a more important delivery.