Meals on Wheels volunteer saves Sacramento County man's life

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) -- A Sacramento County Meals on Wheels volunteer recently saved a man’s life, highlighting the program's crucial role beyond meal deliveries.

Meals on Wheels Executive Director Mindy Klick told KCRA that the incident occurred on a Monday.

“Our driver enters the house, gets through the house, really isn’t finding anything or anybody, gets to the bedroom and finds the participant in the bed. And the bed had collapsed in," Klick said.

Klick put KCRA in touch with Patricia Escobar, a volunteer with the nonprofit that found the man — recounting the moment she found him.

“I go inside, and right away, I got a bad feeling. I ended up finding him on the ground, in distress and confused, and called 911," Escobar said.

The man had been trapped for three days before Escobar’s scheduled delivery.

“I don’t know how long he was there. I don’t know if it was him trying to get back up and then collapsed again,” Escobar said.

In her year as a volunteer, saving lives has become part of her routine, saying she's done this with multiple participants on her route.

“I’ve been through it, so nothing surprises me anymore," Escobar said.

According to Klick, these scenarios occur far too often.

“It’s not just been this one time that we’ve had this incident. It happens quite often. We’re just thankful that we have those volunteers who know exactly what to do," Klick said.

Klick also commended Escobar’s efforts, calling her a hero.

“Had it not been for our driver showing up, knowing that this was not normal for this participant, who knows what could have happened?” Klick said.

Escobar has one rule for participants on her delivery route.

“Keep opening that door. As long as that door opens, we’re good," Escobar said.

She insists on trusting your instincts to make a difference.

Meals on Wheels is actively seeking compassionate volunteers who want to make a difference in their community.