Postal Worker Saves Girl From Locked Car

Daniel Mitchell-Benoit
The side of a USPS mailbox.
Unsplash | Tareq Ismail

A mailman got to be a hero the other day when, while delivering along his regular route, he heard a young girl screaming for help as she was trapped inside a car.

The story unfolded from there, but one thing for sure is that without the man's help, who knows what could have happened to that girl or anyone else involved.

A postal worker from Colarado did something incredible.

The front end of a USPS van.
Unsplash | Trinity Nguyen

Andrew Russel, who works for USPS, was delivering mail along his normal route in mid-July of this year when he says he heard a girl screaming nearby. He immediately paused his work.

He tried to follow the girl's voice.

The back end of a white car.
Unsplash | Tyler Lastovich

"I noticed a car was pulled off on the side of the road," he said in an interview with KDVR, "There was a funny noise, almost like an engine was revving, and then I heard a child's voice that sounded pretty hysterical. So, the second I heard that I just immediately ran over."

He successfully got the girl out of the car, then noticed a woman in the front seat.

The front driver's side interior of a car seen through the window.
Unsplash | Ryan Graybill

That woman was the girl's mother, who was unconcious.

"[The girl] was saying, like, 'my mommy's dead'. Her mommy wasn't moving. So, of course, the child was obviously very freaked out."

Turns out, her mother had overdosed.

A pill bottle knocked over spilling its contents onto a white surface.
Unsplash | Melany @ tuinfosalud.com

Wheat Ridge Police Department says the mother had taken a fentanyl pill before trying to drive herself and her daughter to a family member's home.]

"As she was driving, she got tired and pulled to the side of the road where she essentially passed out," Joanna Small, public information officer, told People.

That's when the girl started pleading for help.

Photo of Blue Sedan Parked on the Side of the Road
Pexels | Jesse Zheng

And thankfully, Russell was there to help.

By the time police arrived, the girl's mother was awake again. She was arrested for driving under the influence of drugs, possession of a controlled substance and child abuse.

Reportedly, both the girl and her mother were extremely grateful for Russell's help.

The side of a USPS mailbox.
Unsplash | Tareq Ismail

"I have a little girl of my own," he said, "So it definitely hit a chord that way. She said thank you a couple times and yeah, it meant the world to me that she was just OK."

Of the mother, Small said, "We hope she gets better. She is not a lost cause. Despite the fact she is being charged with child abuse, we know she loves her daughter. [...] There is help for her, [...] She can turn her life around."

h/t: People