Tolland Letter Carrier to Receive Hero Award for Helping Woman Who Fell

A Tolland letter carrier will be honored with a national hero award for helping a woman who slipped on ice and fell over the winter in single-digit temperatures.

Officials with the U.S. Postal Service will present Paul Horton with the award at a ceremony Tuesday.

Horton is credited with helping save the life of a woman along his route who had fallen in her icy driveway on a 7-degree day.

She had been lying on the ground for nearly an hour when Horton, who had arrived to deliver her mail, heard the woman calling out for help and rushed to her side, according to the USPS.

Horton called emergency responders and kept the woman warm until help arrived. Had the woman spent another 15 or 20 minutes alone outside, she could have died, doctors told the USPS.

"We are so proud of Paul and happy to honor him for his quick response to our customer. And we are proud of all of our Tolland postal employees who go above and beyond to provide great service to our customers each and every day," Tolland Officer in Charge Pat Paskewitz said in a statement Friday.

Horton will receive the award at a ceremony scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 14 at the Tolland Post Office on Tolland Stage Road.

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