By Carrie James
As part of his route, Streich delivers to a senior community called The Knolls, and he often helps the older adults by bringing their mail to their apartments, rather than leaving it in the cluster of mailboxes outside.
"It's a senior route, and they need help at times," he said. On this particular day, a voice told him to deliver mail to one of the community's residents, Jim Nevins.
"He's one of the seniors I would give his mail to him. He'll leave the door cracked, and I'll put his mail on his chair. This day, the door was cracked open. I put the mail on the chair and called out to Mr. Nevins, 'Mr. Nevins, I put your mail on the chair. Mr. Nevins. Mr. Nevins.' He didn't respond, so I went in and I found him on the floor."
It was that extra effort that Streich gives on his route each day that led him to find the unconscious Jim Nevins and help save his life by calling 9-1-1 and waiting for the paramedics.
"The way I feel, he's a hero," said Charles Knowles, post master at the East Meadow Post Office. "He saved this guy's life. All of the letter carriers do try to do their thing to help out. I'm sure plenty of mail carriers help those who need it. They do more than just deliver the mail; they want to participate in the community. John [Streich] went above and beyond."
Streich of Farmingdale has worked for the East Meadow Post Office for 31 years, starting at age 24. He took the job, he said, because he had just gotten married and wanted to support his family. Back then, he said, the post office provided good benefits and pay.
For the past eight years, Streich has worked his present route, which beside The Knolls is mainly a business route that includes Merrick Road and Hempstead Turnpike.
"I love this route," he said. "There's a lot of nice people on it, especially the seniors."
Since the beginning, Streich said he has sought to help those in need. Often during his route at The Knolls, Streich said he would assist residents by taking their mail up the flights of stairs to their apartments.
"I help the seniors out," he said. "I'll help them run their food or packages up the stairs, because sometimes they have 15 flights of stairs to climb. They're all self-sufficient, but I try to help where I can."
Jim Nevins was one of the people who Streich helped regularly. It wasn't easy for him to come to the mailbox all the time, Streich said. So three or four times a week, Streich would take Nevins' mail to his apartment and leave it on a chair just inside the door.
Normally, Streich calls out to Nevins that he has brought the mail and then leaves. But when Nevins didn't respond this time, Streich thought something might be wrong.
Upon finding Nevins, Streich went to neighbor Evelyn Kenny for help because he couldn't find the phone in Nevins' apartment. She called for help. Then, Streich returned to Nevins and remained by his side.
"They [EMS workers] came within five minutes," Streich said. "They said he had a seizure. He may not be doing to well right now, but he's alive and I hear slowly getting better."
Days later, Nevins' son thanked Streich for saving his father's life. The Knolls community also thanked Streich in a newsletter column that read, "Mailmen not only deliver mail."
As for Streich, he's taking all the praise and hero talk in stride, and said anyone else would have done the same thing.
"It was no big deal," he said humbly. "These are things you would do as part of the day. It was just something that told me to bring him his mail."
