Delivering a helping hand; how Winnipeg postal employees are going the distance on the job

An ordinary day on the job delivering mail in East Elmwood quickly turned dramatic for Canada Post letter carrier Jared Plourde. A woman on his route was calling out in distress.

“I'm frantically yelling ‘Excuse me, my father has had a stroke and he's in a precarious position can you please come and help?’” said Diane Reimer, a resident in East Elmwood.

'It was very right place, right time for sure'

“I didn't really think much else, I just ran in there, helped him up and because he'd fallen in a pretty bad position,” said Plourde.

“I had to pick him back up and help them till the firemen showed up. It was very right place right time for sure.”

Plourde has been delivering mail for nearly a decade. His heroic deed helped save the life of John Reimer, who recently turned 91.

Jared Plourde (right) has been delivering mail with Canada Post for nearly a decade. The letter carrier came to Diane Reimer and her family's rescue at the end of August when her father was experiencing a stroke. Plourde was delivering mail to their house and the neighbours when he heard Reimer cry out in distress. Here they are seen having a conversation outside of her house on Thursday Sept. 19, 2024. (Joseph Bernacki/CTV News Winnipeg)

Diane Reimer and her family wanted to thank Plourde, but the letter carrier was reassigned to deliver in a different neighbourhood.

Over social media, Reimer was advised to reach out to Canada Post directly and it paid off.

“Contacting Canada Post was the best route to go and I'm really glad that they found Jared,” she said.

It’s not even the first time he’s helped someone while at work. A couple of winters back, he saved an elderly woman trapped in the snow.

“Her dog was running in the road,” Plourde said.

“That's why I knew something was wrong because there's this dog running in the road. I got out to go help the dog, and I see this black mitt waving off in the white, and it's like minus 40. So then I ran through the path and sure enough, there was this woman buried down there.”

Plourde is not the only letter carrier with a big heart. In East Kildonan, Ryan Pritchard has enjoyed delivering for 18 years.

Over the spring, his biggest fan, six-year-old Lucas started chatting about sports with him at the door. He then left Pritchard drawings to say thank you for his service.

“Dinosaurs, cats and dogs, and like other animals,” Lucas said with a smile.

“I thought it was nice that he took the time of his day to do something nice for me and to, you know, thank me,” Pritchard said.

“The least I could do is sort of, you know, repay the favor and leave him something too.”

Pritchard began leaving cards of his own. He is always welcomed by Lucas’ family.

'A simple act of kindness can go a long way'

“It meant a lot, seeing the excitement and joy on Lucas’ face when he took the letter out of the mailbox, he couldn’t believe it,” said Lucas’ dad Jesse Panciera.

“For Ryan to go out of his way and to write back, shows a lot about his character. He’s a stand-up guy. A simple act of kindness can go a long way and I know that Lucas will remember that for a long time, so I’m very grateful.”

Pritchard said he has exchanged greeting cards more than a handful times over the years. Interactions like these stand out as he averages over 20,000 steps a day on the job.

“People leave you Christmas cards and things like that, and, yeah, I often return Christmas cards of people, even for me and things like that,” he said.

Lucas holds up the greeting card he received from Canada Post letter carrier Ryan Pritchard on Thursday Sept. 19, 2024. (Joseph Bernacki/CTV News Winnipeg)

Pritchard said the longer you do the delivery job, the more likely it is they will run into experiences like Plourde had at the end of August.

“I had a man collapse on me maybe less than six months ago,” Pritchard said.

“I was delivering him a parcel, and he came to the door and just collapsed. Things like that happen and you have to sort of react the best you can in the moment.”

On the flipside, seeing friendly faces on the job is something he looks forward to each day.

“It's great meeting people like Lucas because you know, it's a testament to his parents, the job they've done, you know he's obviously a very thoughtful young man,” Pritchard said.

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