Craig Hill has 405 customers on his rural mail route for the Austin Post Office.

The Maple Island man has come upon his share of unusual scenes: Once he rescued a farmer trapped atop a grain bin.

Then came the time when he was challenged in more ways than one.

Early last spring, Hill was making mail deliveries on his route.

“It was one of those days when we had a cold rain, about 33 degrees and I was wondering if it was going to get icy,” he recalled.

Hill’s otherwise routine day of mail delivered changed quickly when he saw a flashing light coming from something down the roadway.

“I thought that was strange, so I drove up there and saw a vehicle upside down in the road,” he said. “I pulled up and you could see the skid marks all over the road and I could hear a little kid crying in the vehicle.”

He immediately called 9-1-1 to inform authorities of the accident.

Then, he directed his attentions to the overturned vehicle. Inside was a little girl with a bloody nose. ‘She was just terrified,” he said.

The Honda CUV’s air bags had deployed and the driver — the girl’s mother — was upside down in the vehicle.

Hill first pulled the child from the vehicle and placed her in his van. Then, he returned to the overturned vehicle to help the only other occupant.

Hill cut the driver’s seat belt and helped her crawl from the vehicle to safety.

Mower County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived at the scene along with the Brownsdale Volunteer Fire Department and First Responder Squad. An ambulance whisked the accident victims away to a hospital.

The rural mail carrier’s quick thinking and actions didn’t go unnoticed.

A rural mail carrier since 1982 (full-time since 1990), Hill was honored as the “U.S. Postal Service’s Rural Carrier of the Month” for October.

Chris Fruechte, another rural carrier and a participant in the Quality Work Life program, was joined by Tracy Heimer, a carrier supervisor and a QWL facilitator, to present the award to Hill Tuesday morning at the Austin Post Office.

The district served by Fruechte and Heimer includes 69 U.S. Post Offices.

Dan Heins, Austin postmaster, added his congratulations to Hill upon earning the Rural Carrier of the Month honor for October.

“He went above and beyond and we appreciate his efforts,” Heins said. “We’re glad that he could be recognized for his efforts.

Work was stopped Tuesday morning for the presentation and Hill’s co-workers gave him a round of applause.

Then, everybody went back to work, sorting the mail for the day’s deliveries.

“I’ve helped people, who got stuck with a pickup truck I drive, too, on the route,” he said. “I’ve given people rides when they got stuck.

“I even got a guy off a grain bin one day, when he got stuck up there when his ladder broke and fell to the ground,” he said.

Hill declined to be called a “hero” and said, “I honestly think anybody here would do the same thing.”

Ironically, Hill doesn’t know the names of the woman and daughter he rescued.

“They never contacted me,” he said.