Postal worker saves man

By MARSHA DORGAN
Register Staff Writer

U.S. postman Henry Gutierrez not only delivered the mail on Thursday, his quick actions — along with being in the right place at the right time — rescued an elderly man who was pinned under the front tire of his full-size pickup.

The 84-year-old man, who was identified at the scene only as Chester, suffered broken ribs, according to Napa Fire Capt. Scott Sedgley.

The accident happened around 3 p.m. at the south parking lot at Alston Park off Dry Creek Road.

Gutierrez said when he came out of the nearby bathroom he saw the victim.

“He was under his pickup and the left front tire was on the upper side of his body,” Gutierrez said. “I jumped inside the pickup and drove it forward far enough to free the man. Someone else called 911. All he said to me was he fell out of his truck while he was trying to back up.”

Sedgley said the victim was alert and conscious.

Gutierrez doesn’t believe he did anything out of the ordinary. “I just did what I knew needed to be done,” he said.

Napa Valley Register Copyright © 2009