A mailman from New Jersey is being hailed as a hero this week after he stepped in to save a mother who had collapsed in her home.

Stephen Garofalo has been a mailman in the town of Wayne for 32 years, and he’s become so familiar with his route over the years that he knows right away when something is out of place.

“I feel like I’m part of this community,” Stephen explained. “Actually I’m here more than my own community.”

Recently, his intuition and quick thinking helped to save the life of a young mother living in his neighborhood.

Stephen was out delivering mail as usual one morning when he noticed a 2 year-old boy wandering around alone outside his house. This immediately made Stephen feel uneasy, and sensing that something was wrong, he approached the little boy.

Stephen had seen the little boy while he was delivering mail before, and he asked the toddler where his mother was. It quickly became clear that the boy was terrified, and the child simply pointed to his front porch and inside his front door.

This sent Stephen running inside the house, where he found the boy’s mother Stephanie slumped over his stroller.

“She was laying there unconscious,” he said. “That’s when I called 911 and the first responders (got) here as fast as they could to render first aid.”

The mother was totally unconscious and unresponsive, and it was only later that it was revealed that she had suffered a bad reaction to a new medication.

Stephen has since been hailed as a hero for saving the mother’s life, and in the video below, you’ll see him get presented with the Life Saving Award, a rare honor bestowed to him by the United States Postal Service.