Intrepid 83-Year Old Postal Worker Delivering Mail on Foot Is Really Getting Her Steps In

Ekaterina Dzalaeva is 83 years old, but she isn’t retired and definitely isn’t taking it easy. Dzalaeva is a postal worker in Russia’s Caucasus Republic of North Ossetia delivering mail to residents for over 50 years, walking 25 miles a day, six days a week in the course of her work. Now, thanks to a recent profile, the hard working woman has captured the heart of the internet.

After having to leave school in ninth grade to help her family run their farm, Dzalaeva started delivering mail “by accident”, according to Russia Beyond, which shared Dzalaeva’s story with the world. She needed to find work, though, and ended up landing a job at the post office. When the town’s beloved mailman retired—kids used to chase him down the road—Dzalaeva picked up the mail bag and started delivering letters and packages to the neighboring villages. She has been doing it ever since.

Specifically, for the last 50 years, six days a week she has walked along the one mountain road that connects the villages. While neighbors will offer her rides, according to Russia Beyond, she frequently prefers to walk, the way she always has. She now has the title of Russia’s oldest postal worker, according to Reuters.

Word of the intrepid postal worker finally got out when a local TV station shared a story about the woman who has been delivering mail for half a century. From there the story has spread across the globe, charming people are charmed by the story. When NowThis shared the story on Twitter Monday, the internet fell in love with Dzalaeva again.