CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A mailbox stuffed with letters sounded an alarm for a mail carrier in east Charlotte.

Within minutes Pierre Agena helped rescue an elderly woman.

Agena was honored on Monday night for saving the life of Claudine Pate, 80.

Agena has delivered mail to Pate for 14 years.

When he did not see her for a few days, he knew something was wrong.

One day last November, he rang the bell, but she didn't come to the door.

"I knocked on the window and she answered in a clear voice," said Agena.

Convinced she was not OK, Pierre called one of Claudine's sons for help.

When her son got there, they discovered she had fallen in her tub and had been struggling to get out for two days.

She was badly dehydrated after going without food for so long.

"I had already turned gray and was in bad condition," said Pate.

Claudine was rushed to the hospital where doctors were able to save her life.