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Mailbox swap for disabled man takes 5 weeks

Posted at 6:00 PM, Feb 26, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-27 13:52:17-05

Going to get the mail is a daily chore for almost everybody.

For Gary Odorowski going to get the mail is even more of a challenge.

"The biggest thing is the height." said Odorowski.

Odorowski says his battle with polio has forced him to use a wheelchair to get around. His mailbox slot is at the very top of his community's cluster.

He says reaching and seeing into the back of the box is not possible for him.

"If I have to go inside the box then I can't reach anything that tucked away in there," said Odorowski.

A neighbor was nice enough to offer a trade in a mailbox swap but Gary's postman said it is not as easy as just exchanging keys.

"They have to technically reallocate the boxes for the two different house numbers," said Odorowski.

Odorowski says the request was put in with the Post Office but five weeks went by and heard nothing.

"When I called back the third time, I couldn't get an answer so I was really frustrated," said Odorowski.

Contact 13 reached out to the U.S. Postal Service and within hours authorities contacted Odorowski. As of Saturday, workers replaced the locks on the boxes and Gary's new slot is now at eye-level.

Gary's glad he has no more struggles with the mail except for those pesky bills.

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