They deliver your mail every day, keep watch over your neighborhood, and in this case, they may have saved a life.

Two postal workers are being called heroes after jumping into action to help a woman who was being attacked by a dog. On Thursday, they were honored at the Mount Oliver Post Office.

It all happened on a cold day in March on Fernleaf Street in Arlington.

A woman was walking home when a dog came out of nowhere and attacked her. If it weren't for two U.S. Postal Service employees nearby, she says she doesn't know where she'd be.

Janice Taylor, 74, is still healing from the attack. She stood on Thursday, visibly scarred but full of gratitude.

"They did save me because I was having a hard time, and I didn't think I would be here," said Janice Taylor.

Taylor said she had never seen the dog before, but it came at her fast and furious.

"I'm not afraid of dogs, but it showed an aggressive theme, and I said I'd better protect myself," said Taylor.

On their lunch break, the two postal workers, Tony Kriley and Jamie Stevens, noticed something wasn't right.

"I heard somebody yelling and I thought, 'That's weird,'" said Postmaster Tony Kriley.

It wasn't a routine day for either of them.

"There were a couple of reasons we were running late that day. I forgot mail back in the car and had to go back and get it," said Jamie Stevens, Mail Carrier.

That delay may have saved Janice's life.

"Once that happened, I sprayed the dog again, ran out of dog spray, yelled for Jamie, got the dog off of her a second time, and I thought everything was good," said Tony Kriley

"I sprayed the dog and got it in the eyes, and it finally let go of her. So, I stomped at it a little bi,t and it ran away," said Jamie Stevens.

Janice suffered injuries from head to toe and has already undergone two surgeries.

"I'm still going through hand surgery and rehab, hand therapy, trying to make my hand fold back to the way it was," said Taylor.

Through it all, she says she's thankful. And for the two men, they didn't realize just how much their actions made an impact.

"I see her all the time now. She lives on my route. They beep every time I see them now, it's good," said Jamie Stevens.

"She's doing way better than I saw her last time, and that's good to see. Good to see what we did saved someone and helped them," said Tony Kriley.

Janice doesn't blame the dog but has a message for pet owners.

"Be responsible. Have your dog on a leash. Make sure they have their shots," said Janice Taylor.

• USPS