USPS Mail Carrier Hailed Hero After Rescuing Age 6 Girl Inside Car
Heroes come in all kinds of uniforms. One hero in Wheat Ridge, Colorado was wearing the colors of the United States Postal Service.
According to a report by KMGH-TV, USPS mail carrier Andrew Russell rescued a six-year-old girl from a hot, locked car after her mother lost consciousness.
“What really caught my attention was hearing a child’s voice, there was a child in the backseat that was yelling.”
“‘The closer I got, I heard, ‘My mommy’s dead!’ So I immediately ran over there and dropped my mail in this lady’s front yard and made sure the kid was out of the backseat first and then I checked on the mom — she was slumped over,’ Russell said.”
WKRC-TV reports that the mother, 25-year-old Ashley Figgers, had taken a Fentanyl pill before entering the car. “‘As she was driving, she got tired and pulled to the side of the road, where she essentially passed out,’ said Wheat Ridge Police Department public information officer Joanna Small.”
Figgers now faces criminal charges including child abuse and possession of a controlled substance.
The story might have taken a tragic turn in summer heat or if a less heroic stranger had come upon the situation. Postal Worker, Andrew Russell, new to the job, acted quickly, responsibly, and compassionately.
WKRC-TV quotes Russell as saying he didn’t think twice about acting when he heard that cry. “‘I have a little girl of my own, so it definitely hit a chord that way,’ he told KDVR. ‘She said ‘thank you’ a couple times, and it meant the world to me that she was just okay.'”
According to the CDC, Fentanyl, which is a synthetic opioid designed to treat severe pain, is also manufactured illegally and can be mixed with heroin or cocaine. This has been linked to a dramatic rise in Fentanyl overdose deaths, increasing “over 56% from 2019 to 2020.”
If you’d like to know more about the impact of fentanyl on America, tune into this episode of Morning on the Dove with commentator, Dan Perkins on Liftable.tv.
Thankfully, this situation was resolved heroically by the quick actions of Andrew Russell. The little girl is safe with extended family and the police are grateful for the mail carrier’s quick thinking.
Small expressed hope for the little girl’s mother, Ashley, in her statement.
“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,” Small said.
“She made a terrible decision that could have been so much worse for her daughter. There is help for her, there are resources for her, and we hope she takes advantage of them. She can turn her life around.”
Thanks to Russell’s heroism, this story ends in hope for a little girl, her mother, and a supportive community in Denver.
