THEY may not be famed for their life-saving skills, but milkman Pete Edmondson is being hailed a hero by one of his loyal customers.

Peggy Thomas, 91, who has diabetes, had spent nearly 24 hours on the floor after her legs gave way at the bottom of the stairs on Friday, February 1.

Pete has a cup of tea with Peggy every Saturday when he delivers her milk and knew something was wrong when he knocked on her window.

Peggy, a retired state enrolled nurse of Stratton, said: “He saved my life. If I had been here for another 24 hours without medication, food or fluids I wouldn’t be here today.

“I had been putting a mop bucket in the bathroom on Friday morning because there was a leak. I came down on my chairlift afterwards at about 11am and I couldn’t walk. My legs just gave way.

“I tried to grab the table and pull myself up but I couldn’t. My floor is slippery and my feet were going. I just couldn’t get up. I’m diabetic so I was having hypos too.”

The great-grandmother-of-one remained on the floor all day and night until she heard a knocking on her window at about 7.45am.

“It was him bashing on my window and he realised something was wrong because I’m usually up in the morning to let him in and put the kettle on for him to make a cup of tea,” she said. “He managed to get in the house and he picked me up off the floor. He squeezed me around the neck and shoulders.

“Pete made me a drink and got me some bread and butter. Then he got my medicine box off the side for me.

“He called Homeline for me and he wouldn’t leave me. I said ‘go on go, you need to do your job’. I was worried about other people getting their milk on time. He said ‘I’m not going, I’m seeing you right’. He stayed until the woman from Homeline came.”

Pete, 49, of Liden, who works for Dairy Crest, which runs online service milk&more, has been a milkman for 24 years and has been delivering to Peggy for about a year and a half.

“She is always up in the mornings so as soon as there wasn’t an answer I knew something was wrong. I knew I had to get in and the only way in was to break in, “ said Pete.

“The room was in a complete mess from where she was trying to get up and the chair was across the door.

“I deliver milk for Peggy three times a week but I only come in for a cup of tea on a Saturday so it was lucky it happened then.

“She says I’m a hero but I don’t feel like one. You just do what you have to do.”