When Stephen Garafalo noticed a 2-year-old boy outside, he immediately knew something was wrong.

Garafalo was on his usual mail route, the same familiar route he had been working for over three decades. “I feel like I’m part of this community,” he told CBS News. “Actually, I’m here more than my own community.”

Delivering mail in the area for over 30 years had made Garafalo well acquainted with the local residents.

But the sight of this young child made him stop.

Garafalo was familiar with the little boy’s family and didn’t think they’d let him wander outside alone.

“It did look out of place,” he told CBS News.

“I said, ‘Where’s your mother?’ and he pointed inside.”

Although Garafalo could have simply left, it’s a good thing he didn’t.

When Garafalo approached the house, he saw the child’s mother, Stephanie Wilson, laying unconscious and hunched over a stroller. When he tried to talk to her, she was unresponsive.

“She was laying there unconscious,” he told CBS News.

Garafalo dialed 911 and waited until the EMTs arrived.

It turns out Stephanie had been having a bad reaction to her medication.

Luckily, upon the EMT’s arrival, they were able to revive her at the scene. As they were working on Stephanie, Garafalo stayed and distracted the boy from the scary scene.

To Stephanie, Garafalo is a hero.

“I have no idea what would’ve happened,” she told CBS News.

“If it wasn’t for him, the EMT wouldn’t have gotten there as quickly and I would’ve been brought to the hospital.”

But Garafalo doesn’t necessarily agree.

“I don’t classify myself as any kind of hero,” he said in an interview with NorthJersey.com. “I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Somebody was in trouble and I helped them.”

Although, he does admit:

“This is by far the biggest thing I’ve ever encountered in my career here in the postal service.”

Stephanie and Garafalo keep in touch when they see each other during his route.

“He’s an amazing guy in general,” Stephanie said. “You don’t think of him as a postman, you think of him as a guy who walks around. Honestly, he’s like another neighbor. Every time I see him, he says ‘How are you doing today?’ I say I’m doing good and thank you very much.”

“I thank him every day.”

The United States Postal Service honored Garafalo for his actions.

During a ceremony hosted at the post office, a union representative, the postmaster, and Garafalo’s co-workers honored him with a rare Life Saving Award for his actions on that fateful day.

No matter what Garafalo thinks of the incident, it’s clear that his actions were heroic – and online viewers seem to agree. One comment on a video covering his story reads:

“A TRUE HERO, hats off to him he should get more than just a raise.”

Watch the video below!

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Source: YouTube – CBS New York,