Postman Suspended After He Ignored Cries of 72YO Pensioner Who Slipped in Snow & Hit Her Head | "I Can't Help You"

When 72-year-old pensioner Patricia Stewart slipped on ice on the coldest day of February since 1955, in Bainford, Falkirk, she didn't imagine that even after a passerby heard her cry for help, she would be left in the cold, injured.

According to The Daily Mail, Patricia fell down on the front steps of her door since they were icy while collecting a parcel. 51-year-old postman Thomas McCafferty was the one who left the parcel for her but refused to assist the helpless woman. "I can't help, I'm too knackered," he said and then walked off. If that wasn't enough, he asked her to put on her slippers that had come off over his shoulders.

The incident came to light after the neighbor's doorbell camera captured the whole ordeal and they shared it on social media. Patricia, who suffers from bone disease osteoporosis and uses a Zimmer frame to move around, thought she would die. The Mirror reported that she was scared that she would have to lie in the cold for "hours."

She said, "I felt a bit dizzy. I fell from the top step to the bottom and I banged my head. I just couldn't get up. I shouted for the postman to help me and he came back. But he said, 'I've been working from early this morning and I'm knackered,' and then went away. If it hadn't been for the people who helped I would have been lying there for hours." Thomas didn't bother to inform the neighbors to help her out as well.

She told The Sun that she was crying for help for 20 minutes and the situation was "very unpleasant." She added, "Even if he was knackered, at the end of the day that’s his job. When I used to work and I was knackered I still carried on, but you wouldn’t leave somebody lying there in the snow. I had a head injury and he just left me, I couldn't believe it."

20 minutes later, Hermes driver Karolina Domska, 22, heard the elderly woman's cry for help and found her soaked in the snow, bare feet. She rushed to the neighbors to get assistance. Speaking about the incident, Patricia's niece Sheryl Harkin said, "... What this gentleman did is disgusting. He deserves everything he is going to get." She revealed that postal workers are now "refusing to work with him again... He shouldn't be working with the public. Postal workers and retired postal workers have sent me so many messages about this guy and he appears to be known for being arrogant."

Sheryl further added that people from all over the world have reached out to the grandmother-of-two who's been alone since the demise of her husband a decade ago. "I've had people from Russia trying to get in touch with me, American families have got in touch. People are just disgusted. If there was no footage I don't think anyone would believe it. Even if he didn't lift her up he could have called on a neighbor or someone. It's inhumane to do what he's done. You wouldn't treat a dog like that."

Patricia's neighbor, Shona said that she feared the pensioner could get hypothermia because of the cold. "She could still get pneumonia because of all of this. It's not fair at all."

The niece revealed that Thomas has not contacted Patricia to apologize. "He could have contacted me to apologize but he hasn't. Another postman told me he doesn't think he has done anything wrong." Another postal worker told The Sun that Thomas has let the whole community down "big style" because "there’s 120 posties up there [at the local depot], and we’re all tarnished with the same brush. We’re doing a lot of good."

The Royal Mail has started an investigation and suspended Thomas. A spokesman said, "Royal Mail expect the highest standards of behavior from our people while out on deliveries and collections at all times. We regularly remind our postmen and postwomen of the important role they play in their local communities. We were very sorry to learn about this incident, and for the distress, this incident has caused." He said that they have been in touch with Patricia and informed her about the investigation.

References:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9263171/Royal-Mail-worker-suspended-telling-OAP-knackered-help-fell-snow.html

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/postman-left-pensioner-crying-snow-23492742

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/14059377/royal-mail-postman-pensioner-suspended/

Cover image source: Getty Images | Photo by Astrid860 (Representational Image)