THE PITILESS POSTIE
Gran, 72, slips on ice but man tells her ‘I can’t help you pal, I’m knackered’ – and then leaves her lying in snow
THE Royal Mail has launched a probe after a postman was caught on camera refusing to help a pensioner who had fallen in the snow – claiming he was ‘too knackered’.
Patricia Stewart, 72, who suffers from osteoporosis, slipped on ice outside her home and hurt her head.
A postman saw what happened but looked down at her and was heard to say, ‘I can’t help you pal’, before walking away.
The grandmother of two was unable to get up without assistance and was left lying in the snow in tears – as temperatures plummeted below freezing during the coldest February since 1955.
She was rescued 20 minutes later by 22year-old Hermes driver Karolina Domska.
Mrs Stewart, a former social care manager, said: ‘The postman came with a very small parcel and I went out to pick it up and I felt a bit dizzy. I had had my Covid jab the day before.
‘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 come and help me and he came back. I thought he was coming to help.
‘But he said, “I’ve been working from early this morning and I’m knackered”, and then went away.’
Mrs Stewart, who lives on her own in Bainsford, Falkirk, added: ‘If it hadn’t been for the people who helped I would have been lying there for hours. You just wouldn’t leave anyone like that. I had a head injury and he just left me, I couldn’t believe it.’
The pensioner, whose husband died a decade ago, is recovering at home after the incident on Thursday. Miss Domska alerted neighbours, who called an ambulance.
Mrs Stewart said: ‘They were frightened because there was a big egg [shaped bump] on my head. It was really sore.’
She has used a walking frame since she fell over twice in December. Her condition causes weak and brittle bones but treatment, including scans and operations, has been delayed due to coronavirus restrictions.
Her fall down the steps and the postman leaving her lying in the snow was recorded by a neighbour’s doorbell camera.
Mrs Stewart’s niece, Sheryl Harkins, 36, said: ‘I didn’t believe it when I was told what the postman had done until I saw the footage because nobody in their right mind would leave a 72-yearold lady lying in a foot of snow.
‘It beggars belief that someone would treat another human being in this manner. He left her really upset and feeling worthless.
‘I care for my aunt and I visit her four times a day, but she could have been lying there for three hours and caught hypothermia.’
Miss Harkins added: ‘It is very lucky that the Hermes lady turned up when she did 20 minutes later because my aunt could have lain there for three hours.
‘It was -9 in Falkirk and one of the coldest spells on record in Scotland. She had no jacket on. My aunt’s slippers had come off.
She’s lying there barefoot and as the postman walked away he said to her, “Put your slippers on”.’
A manager from Royal Mail has visited the family and an investigation is under way.
A spokesman said: ‘Royal Mail expect the highest standards of behaviour from our people while out on deliveries and collections.
‘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 ha s caused.
‘We are in touch with the customer concerned and will be investigating this incident.’