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Postal carrier had a 'gut feeling' after seeing mail pile up for three days. It saved a life.

This dedicated public servant became a small town hero.

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Kayla Berridge went above and beyond.

Kayla Berridge had been walking her normal 9-mile delivery route in Newmarket, a small town in New Hampshire, when she noticed something unusual.

The mail she had been delivering continued to pile up over a matter of days at one resident’s home. The resident was an elderly woman in her 80s, and would occasionally share a chat with Berridge, according to CNN.

Berridge told CNN that after noticing the unattended mail pile, she got “a little concerned.”

“I just had this gut feeling and wanted to make sure,” Berridge told WMUR 9 News, explaining that “most people put a hold in if they’re not there, so when people pick up their mail every day, you start to notice their habits.” Not to mention, the woman’s car was still in the driveway.

Berridge followed her instincts and called the local police department for a wellness check, and in the process saved the elderly woman’s life.

CNN reported that officers found the woman trapped on her bedroom floor under heavy artwork and frames. The theory is she tried to use her bed for support, and in the process these items on the bed fell onto her, pinning her down for three full days. Though she was suffering from hypothermia and dehydration, Police Lt. Wayne Stevens confirmed she was stable and recovering.

I can only imagine the agony and fear this poor woman was in, lying in the cold and not knowing if help would come. Luckily, help was on the way, and this story has a happy ending.

In this instance, the familiarity that comes from living in a small town really paid off. “Everyone has each other’s backs,” Berridge told CNN.

But Officer Stevens wanted to give credit where credit was due. He agreed that Berridge’s quick thinking was “part of being a letter carrier in a small town,” he added that her actions were “taking your job to the next level.”

While wellness or welfare checks have historically been associated with the elderly, they are seen as an equally “critical tool” for the safety of many young people as well, especially with the “rise of suicide rates among adolescents and young adults.”

An example of this is when "Saturday Night Live" star Pete Davidson received a wellness check back in 2018. The comedian posted an alarming message to Instagram, saying “I really don’t want to be on this Earth anymore. I actually don’t know how much longer I can last.” This was after breaking off his engagement with Ariana Grande.

Though it certainly didn’t happen in a small town, the interconnectedness of social media helped raise some red flags and prompted authorities to make a visit.

If there’s anything to make you question someone’s well-being, it’s better to be safe than sorry.


This article originally appeared on 02.02.22

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Health

Man records a sound for women to play if they ever feel unsafe in an Uber, Lyft or taxi

This is brilliant.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

Keep this sound bookmarked in case you ever feel the need to use it.

We live in an interesting era where we've gone from being told never to get into a car with a stranger to regularly hopping into strangers' back seats and paying them to drive us around. We have long had taxis for that purpose, of course, but with the advent of rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft, more people than ever are paying strangers to give them rides.

While Uber and Lyft have both implemented various safety features, including background checks for drivers, the option to share your ride details and real-time location with someone and matching women drivers with women riders, sometimes you still might not feel 100% safe. Whatever the reason, one man has a resource that can put your mind at ease if you're in a car and alarm bells start going off in your head.

Actor Joshua Summerfield shared a video to Instagram that says, "Ladies: Use this sound when you feel unsafe in an Uber, Lyft or taxi." It begins with a ringtone (as if you're calling someone on speaker) and then his voice "picks up," saying "Hey babe, what's up."

Whenever it says "You" on the screen, you read what the text says, so it ends up sounding exactly like you're having a conversation with your partner, who is tracking your location and will be waiting for you when you get dropped off at your location.

The driver can't see the phone screen, of course, so they wouldn't know you weren't talking to a real person. It's a simple ruse, but enough to send a message.

Watch:

Summerfield has been creating videos like this for a few years and shared that he'll have a website up soon where people can buy different versions of these sounds in different formats. (If everyone uses the same sound, it will soon lose its effectiveness.)

People in the comments are so appreciative.

"Can confirm, Uber drivers have not said a word to me when I use this," shared one person.

"Men protecting women. I’m here for it," wrote another.

"Thank you so much for making this 🙌🙏 This is really kind of you to help us feel safe!" wrote another.

Summerfield told Newsweek that he's received ample confirmation that his videos are serving their purpose. "The number of messages I have received from people, saying they have saved the video and shared it with their friends to protect them in certain situations has been mind-blowing," he said. "At the same time, it lets me know I'm doing the right thing and helping people feel safe."

Summerfield has other videos for various scenarios as well, such as this one for women who are being harassed or followed:

He even has a video for a daughter walking home from school where he pretends to be a dad.

Of course, someone could call their actual dad or partner in these situations, but not everyone has that option and sometimes they can't be reached. This is a handy tool to have bookmarked just in case you ever feel the need to use it.

You can follow Joshua Summerfield on Instagram here and TikTok here.

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Family

Grieving father explains why he's changing the way he talks about his teen son's death

"We are doing this the wrong way."

David Booth/Facebook

David Booth is on a mission.

Losing a child is every parent's worst nightmare, but losing a child to a preventable accident is a unique kind of grief. Such bereaved parents are often haunted by what ifs, and many choose to channel their grief into helping prevent whatever killed their child from happening to other people.

That's what David and Jennifer Booth decided to focus on when they lost their 18-year-old son Nicholas in a car accident in April of 2023. Nick and his friend Will had left lacrosse practice and were driving along a treacherous road near Richmond, Virginia, when they lost control of the car around a curve. The car hit a retaining wall, flipped and burst into flames, killing both teens. The Virginia Department of Transportation estimated that the car was traveling in excess of 80 mph when it struck the wall.

After another local teen was killed in a car crash two days before the new year, Booth reflected on how he talks about his son's death. He took to Facebook Live in January of 2024 to share his thoughts.

After describing the basic details of his son's accident, Booth shared that Nick and Will's bodies had to be identified by their dental remains, which took more than 10 days.

"Since that time, in addition to grieving our children, we parents have worked very hard to share the story of our boys and how their death affected us, in hopes that other young people would make better decisions when getting into cars," he said. "We have focused on love and community and how special those two young men were, and how much they're going to be missed."

Booth explained that he woke up the morning December 30, on what would have been Nick's 19th birthday, to the news that another teen had lost his life in a car accident because of poor decisions. Booth said it felt like he was reading about his own son again—a young man who was "an athlete" with "an unwavering smile and sense of optimism." At first, Booth felt sad, but then he became angry that another young life had been lost after all they'd done to tell Nick and Will's story.

"What it made me realize was that we're telling the story the wrong way," he said. "Instead of talking about how awesome those boys were when they were alive and how much they were loved and how much they meant to the community, in order to reach the young people we're trying to reach, we really need to focus on their death. The fact that it's not cool. It's not a badge of honor. It's not 'neat' that they have 3-on-3 tournaments named after them and plaques hung up on walls and trees planted for them in other neighborhoods. That all sucks. Because they're dead."

"So I will forever change the way I deliver my message," Booth continued. "Instead of showing pictures of my son and his friends having a good time and loving life, I will show pictures of the crash scene. Or instead of talking about what an amazing kid he was, I will talk about how scared he must've been when the car hit that wall. I will talk about the pain associated with the fact that we never even got to see him again in death because he was burned beyond recognition."

"We are doing this the wrong way," he reiterated. "We've got to do better. Young people do not believe that it can happen to them. They do not believe that when it happens, it's forever…I am forever changed by my son's death, but now I am equally changed by the realization that in order to really send the message, you have to use the shock factor and you have to use words that make people uncomfortable."

Watch Booth's message here:

It's heartbreaking that a parent should have to share and relive their son's death in tragic detail in order to prevent the same thing from happening to other young people, but if that's what it takes, that's what it takes. Teens and young adults often see themselves as invincible and, unfortunately, take life-threatening risks in the name of fun, but Booth is on a mission to get people to rethink taking risks behind the wheel.

"I do this for me, I do it for my family, and I do it for my son," he said.

Here's hoping that this father's courage to tell it like it is, even though it's painful, will help the message sink in so that other families can be spared being put in the same position.

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Pop Culture

Ryan Reynolds once took a toddler-focused CPR class and ended up saving his nephew's life

Everyone should learn this simple skill.

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"It takes only a few hours and it's also kinda, sorta fun."

Summer is here. The season of backyard barbecues, long evenings by the bonfire, and a nagging worry that every parent can relate to — the dangers that come with a swimming pool.

The chances a child will die from drowning are relatively low, according to the CDC. But still — it's great to be prepared to step in and help with CPR, should it ever be necessary.

Actor Ryan Reynolds definitely thinks so.

Reynolds recently went to a CPR training class focused on toddlers and infants.

Reynolds and his wife, fellow A-lister Blake Lively (who also attended the class), are parents to two young daughters: 2-year-old James and 9-month old Ines.

The actor posted a photo from his CPR class to Instagram on June 27, noting how being certified once helped him save a family member's life.

"Years ago, I took a CPR course thru the Red Cross," Reynolds wrote. "And holy shit, I ended up saving my nephew's life because I knew what to do! True story!"

"Yesterday I took a refresher course — focusing on infant and toddler CPR," the actor continued. "It takes only a few hours and it's also kinda, sorta fun."

Lively also encouraged her followers to get trained if they haven't already.

"Google 'infant CPR class near me' and you'll see lots of listings," she wrote.

The Livelys are right: Learning CPR is quick, easy, and certainly worth the trouble.

Nothing can give you the same in-depth instruction as a course taught by a professional (you can easily find an American Red Cross CPR training in your area). But there are still plenty of helpful guides online with free resources you can access to help you get started.

As Lively noted, just knowing you have the know-how to help in a critical moment will let you enjoy those backyard poolside barbecues this summer, feeling a little more carefree.

"For those of you who haven't done it, you will love it," she wrote on Instagram. "It's so helpful by giving you knowledge, tools, and some peace of mind."

Here's an overview on CPR instructions so you can better understand what a training course entails:

This article originally appeared on 06.27.17


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