The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Top Stories

Discussion

September 28, 2012

Globe carrier aids injured man

By Roger McKinney news@joplinglobe.com

JOPLIN, Mo. — A Joplin Globe carrier delivering papers came to the aid of a customer.

The 97-year-old customer had fallen, breaking his leg and hip, sometime Monday night.

Early Tuesday, carrier Carey Stiger said she drove up to a circle drive in west Joplin around 4:30 a.m. to deliver the man’s paper when she heard what sounded like a dog barking. She knew the customer didn’t have a dog. She heard the word “help.”

She said the man was on the ground, next to his porch steps after he attempted to get inside his house. She didn’t see him at first because it was dark and his parked vehicles obscured her view.

Stiger called 911 and waited with the man for the ambulance to arrive. After the ambulance left, she said she made sure the doors to his house were locked before she continued on her route.

Matthew Brown, who works for the man, said he is beginning to recover, thanks largely to Stiger’s action. The Globe has withheld the name of the man for his security.

“If it hadn’t been for her, he probably would have died out there,” Brown said of the man he considers a grandfather. “He was telling me ‘I don’t know what I would have done if that newspaper gal hadn’t come along.’”

Brown said he saw a blanket in the garage that Stiger apparently placed on the man while waiting for the ambulance.

Stiger said she was happy she was able to assist.

“If I’m there, I’m going to help him the best I can,” she said.

“I really commend her,” Brown said.



Always on the case

Joplin Globe carrier Carey Stiger was one of the people who on Aug. 6 called 911 to report the fire at the Islamic Society of Joplin mosque.

Text Only
Top Stories