A Michigan community is reeling after the sudden workplace death of Air Force veteran and postal worker Nicholas Acker.
The 36-year-old man’s life was cut short in the most tragic of circumstances this past weekend, just days after he proposed to the love of his life. Acker was found dead inside a mail-handling machine at the Detroit Network Distribution Center in the city of Allen Park on Saturday, authorities there confirmed to multiple media outlets.
The horrifying accident reportedly left him trapped inside a conveyor belt sorting system for somewhere around 6-8 hours before he was discovered, People and others report. Acker’s fiancée, Stephanie Jaszcz, had grown worried when he didn’t come home from his shift and waited outside the facility for hours before firefighters arrived.
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It’s still unclear how exactly Acker became caught in the machinery, but officials have described the incident as an accident. The US Postal Service released a statement to the media expressing sorrow over the loss:
“The United States Postal Service is deeply saddened by the loss of our employee at the Detroit Network Distribution Center (NDC) in Allen Park, MI. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. The NDC is fully operational, at this time.”
For Acker’s fiancée, that statement didn’t go nearly far enough.
Speaking through her grief to the New York Daily News, she expressed outrage that the USPS appeared to prioritize business as usual over honoring the man she loved — a veteran and dedicated worker whose life ended just before Veterans Day, no less.
She told that outlet:
“The mail’s still moving? Gross. ‘Sorry about the loss, but the mail’s still moving.’ They couldn’t even say his name or acknowledge that he was an Air Force veteran. A man gone. A veteran. A husband. A human being. And all you can think of is mail keeps moving? Inhumane. It’s gross.”
Seriously…
As Stephanie noted, Acker served proudly in the Air Force for nearly a decade before joining USPS, where he had worked for over a year. And just ten days before his death, he had one of the happiest moments of his life: proposing to Stephanie in a sweet, autumn-themed engagement.
After his passing, Stephanie poured her heart out in a series of emotional posts on Facebook, trying to find words for an unimaginable loss. In one crushing post (HERE), she wrote:
“Nick, I don’t know how to do this without you. I don’t want to. You were my safe place, my steady, my laughter when the world felt too heavy. And now everything feels off-kilter, like the ground forgot how to hold me. It’s not fair. You weren’t supposed to be taken from me. We had plans. We had rhythms. We had a life stitched together with inside jokes and quiet mornings and the way you always knew when I needed you to just hold my hand. I keep reaching for you in the dark. I keep hoping this is a bad dream I’ll wake up from. But it’s real. And it hurts. And I hate it.”
And in another one, she continued:
“I need you. Not just in the big moments, but in the tiny ones. When I see something funny, when I need help deciding what to cook, when I just want to be seen. You were my person. You still are. And I’ll carry you with me, even when it feels impossible. Because loving you changed me. And I’ll never stop.”
So beautifully written. What a heartbreaking loss. According to an obituary reported on by DailyMail.com and others, a visitation is set for Thursday, followed by a funeral on Friday.
A GoFundMe page has also been established to help Stephanie navigate the difficult times ahead. That campaign reads in part:
“Stephanie and Nick shared a home, their dreams, and their love — along with their sweet puppies who meant the world to them. Now, as she faces this unimaginable loss, Stephanie is also faced with the financial challenges that come with losing her partner and shared household income.”
Ugh.
As of Thursday morning, more than $14,000 had already been raised. You can visit that page HERE. It’s a small but powerful testament to the life Nicholas and Stephanie built together — and to a love story that ended much, much too soon.
Rest in peace…
[Image via Stephanie Jaszcz/Nick Acker/Facebook]
The post Veteran Killed In Horrifying Post Office Accident Days After Proposing To Girlfriend — Her Heartbreaking Reaction To ‘Inhumane’ Response From USPS appeared first on Perez Hilton.