A seemingly ordinary day of delivering mail turned into a lifesaving moment for Durango postal carrier Seana Green on Saturday when she found one of her favorite residents collapsed inside her home.
While completing her routine route near Riverview Elementary School, Green noticed mail had accumulated untouched for three consecutive days.
Familiar with the resident, 89-year-old Marlyn Schmidt, Green had a gut feeling that something was amiss.
“I usually see her sitting on her porch and we chitchat a couple times a week,” Green said Monday in an interview with The Durango Herald. “I didn’t see her on Thursday, Friday or Saturday.”
Green halted her route and decided to knock on Schmidt’s door.
“She didn’t answer, so I knocked really loudly and started hollering toward the screen doors until there was a very weak answer from inside,” she said.
With the front door unlocked, Green entered the home and followed a faint voice to the kitchen where she found Schmidt lying on the floor.
“She didn’t sound like herself and so I knew that she had probably fallen or had an accident,” she said.
Green, a member of La Plata County Search and Rescue, said she didn’t want to move Schmidt in case of an injury. She immediately called 911 and waited until medics arrived.
Green said medical personnel suspect Schmidt fell on Thursday and remained in the same position for 48 hours.
Schmidt did not suffer any injuries but is facing complications from dehydration. Green said she was moved from Mercy Hospital’s emergency room to the ICU over the weekend.
“It breaks my heart,” Green said. “I’m just glad I could find her.”
Green has worked as a mail carrier in Durango for 15 years. She said Schmidt will turn 90 years old on July 27.
glanderyou@durangoherald.com
