Surf City FedEx driver featured in national ad after he saves the day with ring delivery
Some may remember FedEx driver Joe Engel’s story where he delivered a wedding ring to a bride and groom just in time for their beachfront ceremony in Surf City.
Although the delivery happened in 2020 and the story appeared in many large National media outlets, Joe is still telling his story, this time as a part of a National FedEx ad campaign, “Tall Tales of True Deliveries.”
Engel recalled the day freshly. He was running his usual route that runs through Topsail and Surf City when he arrived at a house on the beach that had a note on the door.
“We’re having our ceremony down at the beach for the wedding and you have the ring,” said the note.
The house did not have a way to access the beach from the outside and he could not and would not go over the dunes because of the sea turtle sanctuaries, so Engel said he started running down the street in search of the nearest beach access.
He said one of the neighbors saw him running and yelled over to her to tell her what was going on, and she let him access the beach from her house.
Once he got onto the beach, he realized the wedding was underway and about 200 yards down the beach from where Engel was. To ensure he was not interrupting the ceremony, he tried to move down the beach quickly but quietly with the ring.
“I could see the bride and groom and they were at the altar,” Engel said. “The timing couldn’t be worse.”
Engel said once he got close enough, someone screamed “Oh my God it’s the FedEx guy!”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions at the time, the wedding only had about six people attending and out of all of them, Engel said the bride left the altar and met him to get the ring.
He said the bride was so thankful and that to this day, he stays connected with the couple, Savannah and Dylan Perkins.
“I was so happy that I could help them on that day because obviously that wasn't their picture-perfect way to have their wedding,” Engel said. “I even told my friends after it happened, and they didn’t believe me.”
The commercial first aired Sunday during NFL games on CBS and FOX and it features Engel and his animated version going through the story of the successful wedding day ring delivery.
Engel said he hopes viewers of the commercial will see his story and be encouraged to go out of their way for other people too.
“We’re going through a tough time as a country,” Engel said. “So, you know, people need to love each other.”
He said if everyone just looked out for each other a little more, it would make everything so much easier.
“People just need to go above and beyond sometimes to do different things,” Engel said. “Like I never expect it, so when people actually do it, which is very rare, I mean, it means the world to me.”
Engel said his most recent delivery experience was when he saw two little girls on his route setting up what looked like a little lemonade stand, but they were making friendship bracelets.
“I was just driving by, and I saw them kind of scream and freak out, so I stopped,” Engel said.
He asked the girls what was going on and if they were OK and they told him that there was a spider on one of their chairs, so he assured them that he would take care of it.
“I get out of my truck, and I go to get this spider, and you probably won’t believe this, but it was actually a black widow,” Engel said. “I had never seen one in my entire life, but I knew exactly what it was when I saw it because it had that red hourglass on its back.”
Afterward, Engel said he felt thankful he stopped to help because originally, he expected the spider to be a basic daddy long leg spider, but it was much more.
“But yeah, I mean you develop these relationships with the whole community,” Engel said. “I feel like I’m part of the Surf City community even though I don’t live there.”
Engel’s FedEx commercial will continue to air during NFL games on CBS and FOX in upcoming weekends.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Surf City FedEx driver’s story appears in national ad campaign
