When an 86-Year Old Woodstock Man Fell on His Porch, a Postal Worker Came to His Rescue

Linda Wu delivers the mail faithfully on her United States Postal Service route in Cherokee County, but recently she delivered something more to David Burke.

Burke, 86, who suffered a serious back injury several years ago, stepped out of his front door in Woodstock last week and fell backwards onto the floor of his home’s porch.

“If I fall, I’m not getting up,” Burke says.

With his wife, Liz, visiting friends out of town, Burke was alone, and he knew he was in trouble.

“If I had lain there with no one to help, I don’t what might have happened to me,” he said.

Fortunately for Burke, his residence on a quiet cul-de-sac is on Linda Wu’s mail route. When she drove up a few minutes later, she knew what to do.

“If someone is in trouble, you have to help them,” she said.

Wu parked her vehicle, sprinted up the porch steps and told Burke she would get him into the house. Burke didn’t believe her. He stands 5 foot 11 and weighs 165 pounds; Wu is a foot shorter and more than 50 pounds lighter.

“She snatched me right up, took me in the house and put me in my recliner,” Burke recalled.

Wu’s supervisor, Cecelia Hendrickson, a USPS customer services manager, is not surprised by Wu’s quick action.

“That’s just the kind of person Linda is,” Hendrickson said.

Wu, born in China, came to the United States 24 years ago and has been a postal worker for 20 years. She says she loves her job and loves working for Hendrickson, who is “the best boss.”

David Burke was not seriously injured in his fall. The next day, when Wu arrived as usual with the mail, Burke was waiting on the front porch with a bouquet of flowers for her.

Burke was a New York City police officer for 20 years until retiring in 1984. He also was a successful boxing manager, he said, handling the careers of 18 professional fighters, including 1994 International Boxing Federation world junior welterweight champion Jake Rodriguez.

The Burkes moved to Woodstock six years ago to be close to their son and daughter and their families.