INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The search is on for a thief who swiped lifesaving medications from a woman’s porch on the west side.

She said she could have ended up in the hospital or worse without it.

Megan Coulter is putting the thief’s face out there to catch him and stop other porch thefts as Hoosiers go into holiday season. With home deliveries more prominent, police said, porch thefts are constant year-round, but losing something such as medicine is considered to more dire than a holiday gift.

Doorbell video shows a man scooping up a package with Coulter’s insulin around 4 a.m. Thursday.

“I’m a Type 1 diabetic,” Coulter said. “So, insulin is required for life. So, yeah, it’s very important. If I don’t have insulin, then it could get really bad. I could be hospitalized or die.”

Luckily, Coulter ordered early and had more on hand, but getting it replaced will be a headache.

“Usually I can get it pretty quickly, but since I just had it delivered, I’m going to have to basically fight with the insurance company to basically say it was stolen. I have to file a police report and make sure that they know I’m not just trying to get free insulin,” Coulter said.

But, the thief didn’t stop after swiping the insulin. More footage shows him going to car doors and trying to get anything else. Luckily, cameras caught the guy in the act, but police say there’s even more you should do to let thieves know you aren’t messing around.

“Advertise it,” said Patrolman Michael Hewitt with Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. “Let whoever is on your porch know, ‘Hey, you’re under surveillance right now.’ That can act as a deterrent.”

There are ways to protect your packages before they even get to your porch and into this guy’s sight.

“Go ahead and require that signature to have that left there at the house,” Hewitt said. “That ensures it’s going to safely get there. Simply, there’s other things that you can do. I know some of the convenience stores, they offer drop boxes. Some of the companies have partnered with convenience stores and they have drop boxes you can have your packages taken to and you can simply go there and pick them up. If your boss doesn’t mind — we all have to check on that first — but if your boss doesn’t mind, maybe have the package delivered to your place of business.”

Coulter said she ended up finding the insulin Thursday afternoon where she assumes the thief ditched the package when he found out what it was. She’s still going to try and order new insulin because the box was opened and she doesn’t know what the man may have done to the medication.

Anyone with information on the man in the video can contact IMPD or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana.