A UPS driver who is also a former Navy veteran is being hailed as a hero after he saved the life of an elderly customer earlier this month when he had a “gut feeling” that something was wrong.

Over the 25 years that he has been driving for UPS, Todd Holland has gotten to know the people who live along his route in Ashe County, North Carolina. One of the customers that Todd is closest to is a man in his 80s who regularly comes out on his back porch to greet the veteran when he delivers packages to him. That’s why Todd was surprised a few weeks ago when he dropped off a package and did not see the man.

“I knocked on his door and called his name,” Todd said, explaining that the man lives alone. “But I figured he wasn’t home.”

Todd went on with his route that day, and it wasn’t until four days later that he had another package to deliver to the man. When he arrived on the porch and saw the package that he had delivered days before was untouched, he knew something was wrong.

“I started beating on the door, hollering his name, calling the house again,” Todd said. “I tried the door and it was unlocked, so I opened the door and stuck my head in. That’s when I saw him, laying in the floor.”

Todd called the police as he discovered that the man could not move. He then held the gentleman’s hand until EMTs arrived on the scene.

“While we waited for the ambulance, he squeezed my hand and said, ‘I love you,’” Todd recounted.

The senior told EMTs that he had been laying on the floor for seven days, and paramedics said that he likely would not have survived another day. While Todd is being hailed as a hero, he feels guilt that he did not find the man sooner.

“I just wish I could have found him Friday,” Todd said. “A close friend of mine said it was just not in God’s will to find him Friday, that God has got a plan for everything and it was his plan for me to find him yesterday.”

The elderly man remains in the hospital and is currently listed in “fair” condition. Todd is hoping that his story will encourage other deliverymen to be proactive when they have the feeling that something is wrong with one of their customers.

“I made it a point to tell the guys at work this morning, if you deliver to people — and a lot of people that we deliver to, especially in these rural areas, us, the FedEx man and the mail man might be the only people they see during the week,” Todd said. “I told them, if you realize and get a gut feeling that something is wrong, check it out. It probably is.”