We trust our mail delivery drivers to safely bring our packages, but once in a while a driver makes headlines for other, sometimes terrible, reasons. This story is about a UPS driver from Irmo, South Carolina who to everyone’s surprise, decided to deliver more than just a scheduled package.
Dwight Pryalow has been a driver for UPS for over 15 years. As expected he has delivered thousands of packages over those 15 years, often times briefly getting to know the recipient because of repeated deliveries.
Screenshot via WLTX
84-years-old Nancy McCummings is one of his customers, and Dwight got to know her a little better after making several package deliveries to Nancy’s disabled son who lived with her. Nancy’s story is already a hard one, but was about to get worse when her disabled son passed away – leaving her to outlive all her children.
Screenshot via WLTX
Being old and alone meant that Nancy could no longer take care of the usual maintenance of her house. Things got worse when Dwight learned that flooding in early fall had damaged Nancy’s home bringing a roach infestation and making it unlivable. It was hard for Dwight to see Nancy in this situation as he made his daily route.
“To me it goes back to that saying, it takes a village to raise a child. So when that child gets to be elderly, who is going to take care of them.”
Something needed to be done and Dwight stepped up! With the help of his twin brother and friends, Dwight decided to raise money and personally help Nancy fix her home. They started a Facebook page to make everyone aware of Nancy’s situation and then opened a GoFundMe page to raise the funds for the repairs.
Screenshot via WLTX
The first order of business was to use the money to put Nancy in a hotel while they worked on the house. Then they took care of the infestation by hauling out everything that couldn’t be used, replacing the floors, and cleaning the walls with bleach before priming and repainting them. Regarding the help from others, Nancy says:
“They worked all day Easter here. So I really appreciate it to have these young guys with that kind of heart they showed. And I adopted them now as my boys.”
Nancy was able to return to the home once the basic updates were made to make it safe again. On seeing her home after the makeover, Nancy recalls saying:
“I told them this isn’t my house. I’ve never lived here before, and they laughed because it is phenomenal what they did.”
Screenshot via WLTX
More work remains to make the house as comfortable as possible for Nancy. This includes smaller things like furniture and a refrigerator, to more skillful work like kitchen re-sheeting and cabinetry work.
Dwight is hopeful that they will see it through,
“With a few more hands getting on board, we can show the miracle of what the village can do to take care of the people in our community who can’t take care of themselves.”
This amazing video of Nancy and Dwight will definitely bring you to tears!
The community might have forgotten Nancy, but thanks to the UPS driver Dwight – she received the best delivery ever! Dwight’s generosity of his time, money, and efforts in caring for Nancy makes him a true hero and an example for us all!
