TRAIL, B.C. — A newspaper carrier in the southeastern B.C. city of Trail delivered more than headlines when he stumbled across an ailing customer in a West Trail home.
Cam Cunningham was completing his regular delivery last Wednesday when something didn’t seem right at one of the stops.
“I just noticed that the papers were stacking up so I decided to knock because it seemed suspicious,” said Cunningham.
Without a response at the door, he peered through a window and could see his customer Joe Sinal sitting still in a recliner chair.
“I said, ’If you need help, just lift your finger’ and he did and that’s when I called 911 right away.”
Knowing that the senior’s brother, John, lived nearby, Cunningham ran over to sound the alarm.
“What do you say? (He) didn’t have to do what (he) did and it was remarkable that (he) did ... tell us,” said John’s wife Louann Sinal.
Though the 90-year-old didn’t survive his stroke and passed away the following day in hospital, Sinal’s family is grateful they could spend some final hours by his side.
“It’s a good thing that we do have paper carriers for this type of situation,” said Louann, adding that she plans to reward Cunningham for his efforts.
“Because we have a personal relationship with every single one of our customers, I always watch out for their routines to see if it’s broken,” said Cunningham, who has had a paper route in Trail for more than 10 years.