During the days surrounding Sept. 11, there is much talk about heroes, as honor is paid to those who answer the call and put their lives on the line to help others.
And last weekend a special ceremony was held, along with a silent walk and the signing of a proclamation, recognizing all veterans and especially our veterans who are missing in action or being held as prisoners of war.
However, it has been called to our attention that there is another hero among us. Not a fireman or policeman, not a paramedic or nurse or doctor, but a mail carrier. And a substitute mail carrier at that.
On Friday, Sept. 10, Kevin Barnes was delivering the mail on Rural Route 3 west of Ava. At one particular stop, where he knows the resident to be disabled, Kevin makes it a point, when he’s there, to make sure she is well.
On Friday, he pulled up and noticed the mail was still in the box from several previous days. So he went to the house and knocked on the door.
Earlier in the week, when Barnes had passed that way, he found one of the resident’s dogs tangled in its chain where it was tied outside, and had taken care of that problem.
On Friday, the dog was still tied at the same place and another dog was barking inside the house.
When there was no response to his knocks, he became more concerned and upon finding a vantage point where he could see inside, he saw the resident lying on the floor, unresponsive.
A call went out for help and Deputy Vernon Johnson and a Cox Ambulance soon arrived to give assistance. The resident was revived and taken to the hospital where at last report she was recovering.
Deputy Johnson said it was unknown how long the lady had been down, but he is certain that she would not have survived much longer had it not been for the alert and caring reaction of one local hero, Kevin Barnes.
