There are many stories on the internet of postal workers rescuing the lives of children and adults on their routes, but this one is such a special one.
Fort Thomas postal worker, Karl Herklotz is being called a hero this week after he saved the life of a woman along his route.
The incident
The mailman walked up to the house on Rossmore Avenue Monday, opened the mail box and placed the mail inside but he had a feeling that something was wrong and so he went down the sidewalk. He has been delivering mail on the same route for eight years and knows most of the people in the neighborhood, and their routines.
The mailbox on Rossmore Avenue that gave Herklotz unease belonged to an 84-year-old woman who he says was a “very pleasant lady.”
The problem
The problem regarding that mailbox was that it was very full. Herklotz told neighbor Katie Giancola, who then called the police to come do a welfare check on the residence. “They found her on the floor in the kitchen,” Herklotz said. “Apparently she fell and broker her hip and she couldn’t get up.” Police told Herklotz she’d been there for several days: “Probably since Friday,” he said.
“Everyone just let out a sigh of relief,” Giancola recalled. “Just very thankful that she was found in time and was alive.” It could have been worse if she was not rescued on time. “If they hadn’t gotten there when they did,” Herklotz said, “there is a good possibility that she would have perished.”
A hero
The woman is recovering in hospital as of Wednesday, and Herklotz, is back to his everyday route, delivering the mail to people who now see him as a hero, “Karl is definitely a local hero,” Giancola said. But Karl is modest about it and says, “I wouldn’t consider myself a hero,” Herklotz demurred. “I just consider myself to be a neighbor that’s just looking out after other neighbors in the neighborhood.”
