Postal worker helps save man's life

A valley postal worker is being called a hero by people on her route after she noticed a man's mail was piling up in his mailbox.

It turns out the man suffered a stroke and likely would have died if that postal worker had not noticed something was out of the ordinary.

Postal worker Ashley Sullivan has been delivering the mail in a north Phoenix neighborhood for the past two years, so she's gotten to know many of the people here on Rosemonte Drive.

"Yeah, a lot of people on this street in particular will come out and say hi," said Ashley Sullivan.

So she thought it was strange when the elderly man who lives in a house on the corner hadn't picked up his mail for a few days.

"Yeah, I was worried," said Sullivan.

On Saturday afternoon Ashley told neighbors her concerns, and they called the police who went to the home.

It turns out the man who lived alone had a stroke in bed and was unable to move or talk for several days.

Neighbor Tim Smith said he had no doubt that Ashley saved the man's life.

"Even the paramedics and the fire department said he would not have survived through the night for another day... I would put this woman on a pedestal. What she did, just being observant and seeing what is going on in the neighborhood, a man's life was saved," said Tim Smith.

Ashley said she doesn't consider herself a hero.

"I think most of the people I work with would do the same," said Sullivan.

She is hoping the man will pull through.

"Oh, he was just really friendly, and he would joke around a lot and ask how I was doing, and things like that... it's nice to know he was able to get help, I just wish it was sooner," she said.

The man is in the hospital in pretty bad shape, but Ashley and his neighbors are holding out hope that he will pull through.