UPS DRIVER WHO SAVED A COLLAPSED WOMAN STILL CHECKS ON HER
UPS driver Raheem Cooper was on his regular route in Valdosta, Georgia, on August 12, 2024, when he saw 78-year-old Marie Coble collapse in her driveway, and he rushed to help her. Her family says that if he hadn’t shown up, she wouldn’t be alive, and he has stayed in their lives ever since.
Coble suffered a brain bleed in the fall and needed emergency surgery, WSB-TV reported. Cooper’s own account on GoFundMe calls it a subdural hematoma and says the surgery came on August 21, after her condition changed.
A profile on the St. Luke’s Methodist Church website says Cooper called an ambulance and stayed with Coble until help arrived. It also says doctors told the family she would not have survived without immediate surgery.
Her granddaughter, Kayla Cochran, never forgot who showed up. Good News Network reported that Cochran tracked Cooper down after learning he had helped her grandmother.
A diagnosis nobody saw coming
Cooper did not drive off and forget about it. He kept in touch with the family for updates on Coble’s recovery, and he started a GoFundMe to help with medical bills, rehabilitation and relatives’ travel costs. Good News Network reported that he put in $100 of his own money to get it going.
The recognition came fast. According to Good News Network, UPS’s CEO sent Cooper a letter honoring what he did, and a supervisor presented him with a plaque. His coworkers also got him tickets to a Florida State University football game.
Cooper told WALB the attention caught him off guard. “I didn’t expect this at all, so to see it go from nobody knowing to pretty much the whole world knowing is just amazing, honestly,” he said.
Then came worse news. By the time WALB reported on the family on June 30, 2025, Coble had been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. Cochran told the station that doctors had given her grandmother six months to live.
Cooper said the update hit him hard. “It was pretty traumatic because I thought she was recovering pretty well, so it was just a shocker at first,” he told WALB.
Cochran described a family leaning on its faith. “It’s definitely been very emotional trying times, but you know with the Lord and above you know he’s watched over us so far, and we’ve turned it all over to him and the doctors,” she said.
She also spoke about what Cooper has meant to them. “He’s still a part of our lives and still truly an Angel. A year ago, if he hadn’t showed up, she wouldn’t be here with us,” Cochran said.
“We’re just trying to keep her comfortable and keep her strong as we can and you know we’re just trying to stay positive at this point,” she added.
When WALB published its report, the fundraiser had brought in $20 toward a $5,500 goal. The family wanted Coble to be comfortable at home, where she wished to be, and doctors said she needed 24-hour care.
Cooper told WALB he hoped Coble would make a safe recovery and that the family could find someone to help her day to day. He planned to visit her again soon.
