"I can't help you pal": Postie FIRED after leaving helpless woman
A UK postman has been sacked by the Royal Mail after being caught on camera leaving a 72-year-old woman lying on the ground, telling her, “I can’t help you, pal”.
Thomas McCafferty, 51, was filmed on a neighbour’s Ring doorbell delivering a package to Patricia Stewart’s home in Falkirk, Scotland. Unfortunately, while answering the door, Stewart slipped and fell in the icy conditions, and instead of offering assistance, McCafferty told her he was “knackered” because of how long he’d been working in poor weather, and walked away, leaving her on the ground.
At the time the incident occurred in February, the Royal Mail apologised for his behaviour and suspended him, but they have now confirmed that he has been sacked. A spokesperson said, “Royal Mail expects the highest standards of behaviour from our people while out on deliveries and collections at all times.
'I can't help. I'm knackered': Moment Royal Mail postman LEAVES pensioner lying in the snow amid freezing conditions in Falkirk as vulnerable 72-year-old's family blast 'disgusting' footage @Iromg @cristo_radio @THEJamesWhale pic.twitter.com/CoExHFrI06
— Scott (@scott180142) February 12, 2021
“We regularly remind our postmen and postwomen of the important role they play in their local communities. We can confirm that the individual concerned has left the business.”
Stewart, who suffers from osteoporosis and injured her head in the fall, said at the time, “I was really upset, the postman had left me there lying on the ground in the snow and ice. You just wouldn't leave anyone like that.
“If it hadn't been for the people who helped I would have been lying there for hours. I just can't get over the postman doing that to me. I had a head injury and he just left me, I couldn't believe it.”
She explained that she had felt ‘a bit dizzy’, having received her COVID-19 jab the day before, and upon answering the door to Mr McCafferty, fell from the top step to the ground. Fortunately, she was found 20 minutes later by Hermes worker Karolina Domska, who alerted Stewart’s neighbours and her niece. Neighbours called an ambulance because of the bird egg-sized lump on her head.
Speaking about the incident, Stewart’s niece Sheryl Harkins said, “you wouldn’t treat a dog like that. He left her really upset and feeling worthless. It is unbelievable.
“When I got told about it I thought there was some kind of misunderstanding. 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. He could have told someone down the street, all our neighbours are fantastic, they would do anything to help anyone.
“It is just really so disgusting, the neighbours would have gone to help but nobody heard her shouting. It was the coldest night in the UK for 26 years and he left my aunt lying on the ground.”