OLEAN — As mail carrier Kaitlynn Roberson was delivering a grocery store mailer to an East Olean residence on May 15, she heard a noise inside the home.
“At first I thought it was a cat,” she said. “I started to turn around and then I heard a faint ‘help.’ I knew then it was definitely a person.”
Roberson knew the resident is an older woman who lives alone. Roberson knocked on the door and, still hearing the faint cries from the house, she entered.
She found Anne Walsh had fallen down the stairs, injuring her legs and unable to move. Roberson called 911 and stayed with Walsh until Olean city firefighters and police responded. Roberson also called Walsh’s sister, Jean Klimczyk, to let her know what had happened.
Walsh, 67, was taken to Erie County Medical Center, where she had surgery on Monday and faces a long recovery. Her sister said that Walsh did not have her phone with her when she fell at about 8:30 a.m. and, had Roberson not found her after 1 p.m., she could have died due to low blood glucose.
“Kaitlyn is a hero, she really is,” Klimczyk said Thursday.
Kris Linderman, the supervisor of the Olean Post Office, shared an email he received from Klimczyk, who is urging the U.S. Postal Service to honor the young carrier.
“Kaitlyn is one of the finest examples of how much we truly depend on our letter carriers as part of our neighborhoods,” Klimczyk wrote. “I believe Kaitlyn Roberson deserves an award or some type of recognition as she has gone beyond the call of duty.”
Roberson, a 2020 graduate of Hinsdale Central School, has worked out of the Olean Post Office for about four years. She said she was “just casually going about my day” on May 15, but her knowledge of the residents on her route made her take extra notice when she thought she heard something inside Walsh’s home.
“I was not expecting something like this … but I was worried about her,” Roberson said, adding that Walsh often does not receive items of mail. Without the mailer in her bag that day, Roberson would not have stepped close enough to the house to hear Walsh’s cries.
Raised in a military family — her mother was in the U.S. Navy and a brother is in the U.S. Army — Roberson said she has considered a career as a police officer. She enjoys working her postal route because, as an active person, she enjoys working outdoors. She noted her her stepfather was a rural mail route carrier.
She also said her upbringing taught her to watch out for neighbors and anyone in need, while expressing her hope that Walsh recovers well from the incident.
“That’s just how I was raised,” she said. “We were taught to respond for anyone who needs help.”
Linderman praised Roberson’s actions on that day.
“Kaitlynn is a good carrier,” he said. “She cares about what she does and does a great job every day. She is not the type of person to come to work and just go through the motions.
“She is a person who has character and integrity and I and the post office are proud of her,” he added.
Asked if she’s ever helped another resident experiencing such a serious situation while on her route, Roberson said no.
“I helped a customer start a lawnmower one time,” she laughed. “Which is kind of funny, because I’m usually really bad at starting lawnmowers.”
