Martha Ramey isn't sure how long she lay on cold, wet ground on Dec. 16 before Kenneth Hicks found her and helped her inside, but she is glad he came along.

"If you hadn't helped me, I wouldn't be here today," Ramey, 93, told Hicks on Wednesday.

Hicks was delivering newspapers about 5:30 a.m. on Crescent Club Drive when he discovered Ramey wedged between her front steps and her porch in near-freezing temperatures.

He said he spotted her in the corner of his eye. It took a moment to register that the shape was a person, he said.

"It was kind of crazy," Hicks said. "I never expected to see anybody out that early in the morning."

Ramey said she'd been calling for help, but no one in the cars driving by heard her.

According to a police report, Ramey heard what she thought was a car crash outside and went on her front porch to investigate.

She slipped on an icy step and fell. She broke her arm and couldn't get up.

"I didn't know it was icy," Ramey said. "I stepped out and it threw me."

Hicks said he helped her inside, where she said she didn't want to go to the hospital. When he left, he went to Memorial Northpark Hospital and spoke with emergency room staff, who told him to call the police.

"I was worried to death about her," Hicks said.

Hicks said he went with officers to Ramey's home to check on her, and the officers called an ambulance.

Hicks said Ramey asked him to go to the hospital with her. He stayed with her through the day.

Since then Hicks has visited Ramey several times and they've become friends.

"I'm just tickled I could help out," Hicks said.

Ramey was transferred from Memorial Northpark to Life Care Center of Collegedale on Monday for rehabilitation for her broken arm.

Hicks dropped by to visit her Wednesday. Hicks held Ramey's hand as they talked about family and how the other was doing.

"This is the best man I've ever met," Ramey said. "I love him to pieces."

One Life Care employee suggested Hicks was a hero.

He scoffed and said, "I did what anybody would have done."