This mailman saves lives, too
Source: Agencies |
July 21, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
KEITH McVey is no ordinary mailman.
He finished his afternoon deliveries, betraying no sign that anything out of the ordinary had occurred save for the blood on his uniform and the cut on his lip. Back at the post office, he was greeted with cries of disbelief: "Did you hear? Keith saved another life today."
McVey now can't walk down the street of Akron in the US state of Ohio without being honked at by passing cars filled with admirers - or, apparently, without saving a life.
"He's a rock star in our eyes," says Tina Starosto, a receptionist at King Apartments, where a sign declaring "Keith Our Hero" is on the office wall.
Over the years, McVey, 53, has helped save three people while on his mail route, earning a reputation as the plainclothes superhero. Last week, he threw aside his bundle of mail to perform CPR on an unconscious man on the side of the road.
Two years ago, he pulled a drowning girl from the nearby lake. And nearly 20 years ago, when a teenager tried to take his life by jumping off a bridge on a snowy day, McVey, unable to stop him from jumping, covered the teen with blankets and helped keep him alive until an ambulance arrived.
McVey is embarrassed about displaying the awards and newspaper clippings that showcase his acts of derring-do. It all usually starts with a cry for help.
Last week, it came from the back of a pickup. A panicked man was trying to revive his unconscious friend. "He said his buddy wasn't breathing," explains McVey. "I thought, well, let's see what's going on."
McVey, who is trained in CPR but had never actually performed it before, began chest compressions while another bystander checked the man's wrist for a pulse. They worked on him for several minutes as a crowd began to form. McVey knew he had to keep going until the ambulance arrived.
"Pretty soon the woman said, 'I've got a pulse, I've got a pulse'," he remembers, smiling. "And shortly after that, he started breathing on his own."
McVey's legend around town grew.
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