Arthur Fennell has roughly 333 minutes to deliver 240 papers for the Washington Daily News.
But on one recent morning, the papers were put on hold while Fennell saved a life.
Bettie Tate, a WDN subscriber, was going for a walk with her 22-year-old son who has Down’s syndrome. Shortly after leaving their home, Tate suffered a stroke and fell into a ditch. Incapacitated, she remained there all night with her son, Raleigh, by her side.
Fennell picks up the story from there.
“As I approached her paper box, I noticed that her son was sitting in the middle of the dirt road. I still really did not think anything. I tried to drive around him. As I was going around him, I caught his mother’s shirt and shorts out of the corner of my eye. I noticed she was lying there. I drove around to my next customer’s house and told him what was going on. We proceeded to call 911. He sent me to another man’s house and we came back.”
Tate remains hospitalized at Pitt County Memorial Hospital.
“She is actually doing really well considering,” said her daughter-in-law, Tamela Tate.
We commend Fennell for his fast thinking and quick action that turned out to be a lifesaver for the Tate family. We’re sure our subscribers will understand if the paper was a bit late that day.