PHOTO BY JIM KNOWLES

Tracey Herron noticed something was wrong and brought help to a woman who had suffered a stroke.

By Jim Knowles

San Leandro Times

Letter carrier  Tracey Herron knows the neighborhood where she delivers mail every day.

One day last month, Herron noticed that an elderly lady on Cleveland Street hadn’t picked up her mail for a few days. That was unusual, Herron thought, since the woman is always home.

“Some people you pay attention to because they’re old,” Herron said. “When she wasn’t picking up the mail I thought there might be something wrong.”

So Herron began looking around for a neighbor.

“I started knocking on doors,” she said.

She found a nearby neighbor at home and they decided to call the police to go inside and check on the woman’s welfare.

It’s a good thing Herron did that. The woman had suffered a stroke and she was on the floor. A pot was on the stove, completely melted.

The woman is still in the hospital, but she’s alive due to the observant letter carrier.

“We’re proud of our letter carriers,” said Postmaster Dina Flotte. “They do more than deliver the mail.”