A mail carrier will be awarded the Chief's Commendation Medal from the Federal Way Police Department for his actions last fall that were credited with helping save the life of a woman who had fallen in her home and couldn't get up for 10 days.

On Nov. 15, Federal Way police responded to a call of a welfare check in the 30600 block of First Place South. Gary Lyon, the postal carrier for the route, had called 911 to report he had not seen the elderly woman who lives in the home for days and her mail was piling up.

The officers didn't get any response by knocking on the door. While looking for a way into the home, the officers found an open bedroom window and made comment with the woman who lives in the home. She told police that she had fallen 10 days earlier and did not have the strength to get up.

Police forced their way into the home and found the woman lying in her bedroom. She told officers she had survived on cans of a nutritional supplement drink. The woman was taken to a hospital.

According to a Federal Way Police Department news release: "The actions of Mr. Lyon saved the life of this woman. Without his observation skills and willingness to intervene, the woman likely would have died."

Lyon will be awarded the medal during the Federal Way City Council at 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 33325 Eighth Ave S.