WINSLOW – Two teenagers who were delivering newspapers are being credited with saving the life of an elderly woman who was discovered in a snowbank outside her home.

Luke Vashon, 16, of Vassalboro and Caleb Byron, 18, of Benton were delivering the Morning Sentinel around 4:30 a.m. Friday with Byron’s mother, who was driving them on their route, Winslow police said.

While dropping the paper on a doorstep of a home on Cushman Road, Vashon spotted a woman lying in a snowbank wearing only a pair of blue jeans and a thin jersey.

The 83-year-old woman suffers from dementia and her body temperature had fallen to 85 degrees, said Officer Dana McInnis.

“If she was out there for another hour, she probably would have been dead,” McInnis said.

After spotting the woman, Vashon called over to Byron, who was delivering papers across the street. They got Byron’s mother, who was parked two blocks away, and she drove to the house and shined the headlights on the woman in the snow.

“We had no idea, of course, how long she was out there,” Laurie Byron said. “I asked her if we could help her. She turned her head to us but would not or could not speak at that point.”

Police did not release the name of the woman but said she was doing fine after being taken by ambulance to a hospital.

The incident marked the second time this winter that the Byrons and Vashon have found themselves in a position to help people in need.

The three were recently driving to a church banquet in Canada when the car in front of them on Interstate 95 went off the road in a sleet storm near Millinocket and flipped upside down in a bog.

The three rushed to help the couple and got them into their car to stay warm until an ambulance arrived.