A Canada Post letter carrier was honoured Saturday after he rescued an elderly woman who had fallen in her Scarborough home.
Chris Botsinis received a round of applause at a postal workers’ rally held at a hotel Saturday, where postal advocates said Botsinis’ efforts build the case for keeping door-to-door mail delivery in communities.
The incident happened two months ago, when Cora Moore when fell inside her house after returning home from an errand. Unable to get up or call for help, Moore remained there for three days.
“I wanted to die,” Moore recalled. “I was going to close my eyes and say, ‘God, I’m going to be in heaven with you.’”
Botsinis found Moore when he noticed a key stuck in the front door during a routine mail delivery.
Moore called out to him for help.
Botsinis, who was able to get in through a kitchen window, called 911. He held her hand until medical help arrived.
Botsinis says when he got there, a dehydrated Moore “could barely talk, she could barely breathe.”
At the rally, Moore called Botsinis her “guardian angel.”
Postal advocates say the incident illustrates the community importance of letter carrier mail service, which is being phased out by Canada Post over the next five years.
Late last year, the federal agency said it would replace door-to-door delivery with community mailboxes.
With a report from CTV Toronto’s Colin D’Mello
