Cissy Cartwright says she knew something was wrong when she noticed one of the residents on her route hadn’t checked his mail for awhile.
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She found him, hurt and dehydrated, on the floor of his home and learned he’d been there more than a week. He’d been trapped since July 4.
Hope managed to stay alive by drinking from a five-gallon bucket of rain water he kept outside his front door.
Cartwright stated that Hope was always kind to her. He had even taken to giving her small gifts for her children during the holidays, despite never having met them.
Cartwright has visited him several times. Using a stick, he was able to pull ice cubes from his freezer as well as concentrated juices and frozen blackberries.
When Cartwright found him, she said she called 911 and waited with him until further help arrived.
Tommy is still in the hospital recovering from his injuries.
“He has to be a strong man because to do some of the things he did to survive, it was just wonderful to me”, she said.
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Cartwright has since been nominated for the Postmaster General’s Hero Award by Hope Hull’s Postmaster, Sherry Hughes. “She just saved my life, ‘” Hughes told the station. “She went out that morning just doing her every day, normal job and we have a program here in Hope Hull to look after our elderly”.
