A Denver employee is receiving widespread praise after he rescued a toddler wandering in the middle of a busy street.
Letter Carrier Robert Batley was driving his delivery vehicle March 2 when he spotted the diapered, shoeless girl walking alone as traffic whizzed by.
“I did a doubletake,” Batley told the Denver Post. “Cars were going by like it was nothing. My heart just sank. I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, she’s going to walk in front of somebody.’”
Batley pulled over, took the child’s hand and walked her to a sidewalk before calling police.
Officers arrived and went door to door to locate the 2-year-old girl’s family. They eventually found the child’s grandfather, who didn’t realize she was gone.
Police charged the grandfather with misdemeanor and released the girl to her parents.
The incident received extensive TV news coverage, which has gone viral on social media. One post on the USPS Facebook page has received more than 2,600 likes.
Batley, who has been delivering mail for 16 years, is taking the attention in stride.
“I was happy that no one grabbed her — that she didn’t end up in the wrong hands,” he told the Post.