When Kirk Alexander went missing for 11 days, an unlikely savior came to his rescue: his neighborhood pizza store.
Almost every night for more than ten years. Kirk Alexander, 48, of Salem, Oregon ordered a late dinner from his local Domino's pizza store. He had no signature order. Sometimes he would call for a salad, sometimes a pie, sometimes chicken wings. The only sure thing for the staff of the Silverton Road Domino's was that they would see Alexander's name show up on their online ordering site sometime between 11 p. m. and midnight several times a week.
Until suddenly, for nearly two weeks at the end of April 2016, they didn't.
It was a slow Saturday night on May 7th when Domino's general manager Sarah Fuller felt she could no longer ignore Alexander's recent absence.
“I went and looked up to see how long it had been since he last ordered,” Fuller told KATU. com. “It was 11 days, which was not like him at all.”
Fuller knew Alexander worked from home, and neighbors said he rarely left. She also knew that he had suffered some health issues in the past. Something, Fuller worried, was wrong.
Around 1 a. m. on Sunday. May 8, Fuller sent longtime delivery driver Tracey Hamblen to stop in at Alexander's home. Hamblen approached Alexander's door as he had countless times before and knocked. He could plainly see that Alexander's TV set was on, as were his lights; but after several minutes, Alexander still didn't answer the door.
Hamblen rushed back to the store to relay the upsetting developments to Fuller. She encouraged Hamblen to dial 911. Soon, officers were on their way.
When deputies from the Marion County Sheriff's office arrived at Alexander's house, they heard a man “calling for help from inside the residence, deputies said. They broke the door down, and found Alexander on the floor in need of immediate medical attention. One day later, and they might have been too late.
Alexander was rushed to Salem Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition shortly after the dramatic rescue. In the following weeks, Fuller, Hamblen, and other store employees went to visit him with flowers and cards, noting that Alexander greeted them with knowing smiles.
4. How did Fuller sense that something was wrong?
A.She knew Alexander had serious health problems. |
B.Alexander hadn't ordered chicken wings for nearly 2 weeks. |
C.Alexander had never before broken his routine in the store for 10 years. |
D.Alexander had disappeared from the store's ordering system for about 2 weeks. |
5. What can you infer from the underlined sentence?
A.Hamblen was fond of knocking at Alexander's door. |
B.Hamblen was more than an acquaintance to Alexander. |
C.Every time Hamblen arrived at Alexander's house, he would knock first. |
D.When Hamblen had enough time in the past, he would go to Alexander's house. |
6. In which column of a newspaper will you probably read this article?
A.Life. | B.Technology. | C.Healthy. | D.Entertainment. |
7. The saying we can learn from the story is
.
A.Born in distress, die in peace | B.Details determine success or failure |
C.Even the wise are not always free from error | D.Better late than never |