Delivering a Hero’s Honor to Mail Carrier

A mail carrier who donated a kidney to one of the customers on his LaVale, Md., route has been selected as Hero of the Year by the National Assn. of Letter Carriers.

Paul Wagoner, 42, of Short Gap, W. Va., will be honored at ceremonies today in Washington, the mail carriers’ union said.

The award is one of several given annually to mail carriers who come to the aid of people, usually in fires or crime victims.

In this case Wagoner decided to donate a kidney after learning of the longtime illness of one of his regular customers, Dave Phillips. The successful transplant was performed May 25, 2001, at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, the union said.