Letter Carrier Robert Kane III was delivering mail last December on the New London, CT, riverfront when he heard someone yelling for help.
Kane soon spotted a fully clothed man in the frigid water, clinging to a dock and struggling to stay above the surface.
While 911 was called, the Postal Service employee rushed to aid the man, gripping him by his heavy coat until emergency responders arrived.
Rescuers got the man out of the water and rushed him to a hospital to receive treatment for hypothermia.
Police officers on the scene credited Kane with saving the life of the man, who was believed to have accidentally gotten into the predicament.