Delivering up a hero

Cathy Free

Raheem Cooper was making his regular rounds for United Postal Service (UPOS)in Valdosta, Georgia, when he noticed a bunch of groceries scattered on the driveway of a home.

As he slowed down, he saw a woman sprawled on the pavement near her car. He pulled over his delivery truck and ran up the driveway to her.

“The woman was lying on her stomach and she was bleeding from her fall,” said Cooper, 30. “Her eyes were open, but she couldn’t speak, and she couldn’t get up.”

Cooper called 911, then grabbed a bottle of cold water from his truck to help cool the woman off in the heat that day in August.

“A carton of milk had fallen out of her bag when she fell, and the milk was warm, so there’s no telling how long she’d been there,” he said. “I learned later she was making her second trip to the car to bring in the groceries when she fell.”

Paramedics took the woman to a hospital and learned that her name was Marie Coble, 78. Nursing staff called Coble’s granddaughter, Kayla Cochran, and told her Coble had suffered a brain bleed when her head hit the pavement.

“They were watching her closely in the ICU and after a few days she started coming around,” said Cochran, 33, who lives about 2½ hours away from her grandmother in Folkston, Georgia. “The doctors said if nobody had helped her, she would have died.”

During a hospital visit, Cochran noticed a UPS delivery note in Coble’s belongings. Cooper had written down his name and phone number in case anybody in the family needed to contact him.

Cochran said hospital staff told her that a UPS driver had helped her grandmother, but she didn’t know his name until she found the note. She called Cooper right away to thank him for his quick actions and give him an update on her grandmother’s condition. She was responding well to treatment.

“I told him he was an angel to our family and that he could visit ‒ that my grandmother would like to see him,” she said.

Cooper took her up on the offer. When he arrived at the hospital after work, Coble’s face lit up when she saw him, Cochran said.

“She remembered him and sat up and gave him a hug. She was really happy to see him because she knew he saved her life.”

Cooper said he felt an immediate connection with Coble and asked her if he could continue to visit her during her hospital stay.

“I found out her favourite snack was Twinkies, so I brought some the next time I stopped in and I bring them whenever I can,” he said.

He enjoyed visiting her and the two formed a bond.

“We talk about our favourite restaurants and our families, and I try to keep her motivated so she can make a full recovery soon,” he said.

Cooper, who has two grandmothers, said his friendship with Coble soon felt very comfortable, and even familiar.

“I feel now like she’s my grandmother,” Cooper said.

Nearly six weeks later, Cooper is still visiting Coble once or twice a week, this time at a rehab centre where she is gradually getting her mobility back.

On August 21, Coble suffered a setback and required emergency brain surgery, Cochran said.

“Everyone had thought she was in the clear, but then she suddenly took a scary turn for the worse,” she said. “The surgery went well, but it took awhile for her to come around again.”

Through it all, Cooper continued to check in on Coble, often bringing along his mother, Josie Cooper, and his 8-year-old daughter, Cali. After Coble’s surgery, he started a GoFundMe account to help pay for some of her medical and rehab expenses. So far, he’s raised about $3 800 (about R67 000), prompting Georgia’s WALB News to report on his efforts.

When UPS learned about Cooper’s good deed, the company honoured him with a luncheon, a plaque, a letter from UPS chief executive Carol Tomé and a UPS coin reserved for employees who go above and beyond their daily duties, Cooper said. One of his co-workers also presented him with tickets to a Florida State University football game in Tallahassee, about 90 minutes from Valdosta.

“It was a nice surprise, but I feel like I was just doing my job that day,” Cooper said, explaining that he’d been with UPS for 11 years, including six years as a driver.

“We notice a lot of things when we’re driving our routes, but I’d never seen anything like this before,” he added. “The funny thing is, I didn’t have any deliveries on (Coble’s) street that day, but I happened to take that road to get to where I was going. I guess it was meant to be.”

Cochran said her grandmother and the rest of the family are grateful for Cooper and he’s their friend for life.

“We call him Angel Raheem Cooper.”