When Amazon driver Wilmar set out one day to complete his route, he knew he’d be making deliveries — but he didn’t know how crucial one of his deliveries would be.
As he was working in Franklin Park, New Jersey, he spotted an elderly woman roaming a neighborhood and sensed something was wrong.
“I was delivering, and I saw this older lady was walking by,” Wilmar told Ring. “She waved at me, which isn’t an odd occurrence, people wave at you all the time as an Amazon driver. But she was waving at me like something happened.
“I noticed how she had this wristband on. And it had her name and her information, as well as who to contact.”
When he got through to Karen, the woman’s granddaughter, he realized his instincts had been correct.
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The woman was 92-year-old Gigi, who had Alzheimer’s and had wandered from home while Karen was picking her mom up from a doctor’s appointment. Karen was able to give Wilmar Gigi’s address, so he could take her back.
Wilmar arranged to make his most important drop-off of the day and escorted the elderly woman back to her home, making sure she got inside safely.
Thanks to the cameras, family was able to monitor her return and make sure everything went well. They were also acquainted with Wilmar, as he was a familiar face in the area due to them being on his route.
“I was able to flip on my Ring camera and watch them come into the driveway,” Karen said. “It gave us that extra layer of comfort and relief that we could see everything. That it wasn’t just a phone call, it wasn’t just somebody saying, ‘Oh, she’s in.’ It was us actually visually seeing that she was safe, she was where she needed to be.
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“I felt that Wilmar went above and beyond,” she added. “We have that type of a great close-knit community here, that if there’s something that a driver’s going to spot, that’s out of line, he’s going to say, ‘I’m going to make sure that my customers are taken care of because this doesn’t look right.’
“It made me feel safe that she was taken care of by somebody who’s been to my home, somebody that had a connection to the house and the family.”
Karen’s father also suffers from Alzheimer’s and lives in the same home, necessitating 24/7 care and making the Ring cameras a key tool in their care.
“Technology helps us to keep an eye on our loved ones at all points,” Karen said. “I have the Ring Video Doorbell at the front door. In addition to that, I have a Ring Indoor Camera in the main room, so I can check on her and my father.
“As well as in the other side of the house, I also have another Ring Indoor Camera installed where I can watch my family when I’m not immediately around.
“Certainly gives me peace of mind. I am able to make sure that they’re where they’re supposed to be, that everybody’s safe, that all their needs are being cared for. I’m also able to communicate with them. With Alzheimer’s, they’ve long forgotten how to use a phone, so I’m able to talk to them through the Ring device.”
As for Wilmar, he sees his act as a neighborly gesture, simply acting as part of a caring community.
“I think it’s very important that the community looks out for one another,” he explained. “If something happens, see something, say something. You just wanna make sure that your neighbors are safe, everybody’s happy.
“It benefits all as long as we’re all contributing.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.