After 12 years as a letter carrier for the Granite Falls Post Office, Karen Teller has come to think of the people on her route as an extended family.
In June, she found out just how close a family they really are to her.
Teller was making her deliveries when she noticed something was wrong and took the conscientious and compassionate actions that saved the life of one of her customers.
She put Valier Keller's mail in her box on a Friday afternoon. When the following Monday rolled around, Teller noticed that Keller, 78, hadn't gotten her mail for the past three days. The elderly lady's mailbox was overflowing and still contained her Social Security check. Teller went to the back door to investigate. She knocked and called for Keller but heard no response.
Knowing that Keller hadn't notified the Post Office that she was planning to go out of town, Teller returned to the front door and tried again. This time she heard Keller call out for help, so Teller cut the screen and entered the home to find Keller helpless on the floor.
"She'd fallen Thursday night and hadn't been able to move or get a drink or anything," said Teller. "She is elderly and didn't have the strength to crawl."
Teller called 911 and while EMS workers were on their way, "I got a glass of water and gave her water through a straw."
Charles Gilbert lives next door to Keller and said that, after being found by her letter carrier, Keller was transported to Caldwell Memorial Hospital where she was treated for a broken hip.
She recovered in the hospital for three weeks before being transferred to a nursing home in Granite Falls.
Gilbert said, "I always worried that this would happen to her," saying that Keller is a private woman who wouldn't let anyone inside the house to visit her, occasionally refused to answer her phone, didn't venture outside for days at a time and even refused to allow Gilbert to mow her grass for her.
"She was eccentric all right. She wouldn't let anyone come in the house," said Gilbert. "I didn't notice her not coming and going."
Keller's recovery has progressed so well that she recently returned to her home for a visit, accompanied by relatives. "She can walk, but she has to have some help," said Gilbert.
Teller said she doesn't feel like a hero because, "All the other carriers would have done the same thing."
She said it's important for people to notify their letter carriers when they're going to be out of town for a few days so their mail won't pile up and attract the attention of thieves and hoodlums.
"Some people don't realize that letter carriers watch out for our people, but if we haven't been told that you're going out of town and the mail doesn't get picked up, we're going to check on it," said Keller adding, "God has blessed me with a good job. I enjoy it and I love my people."
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