Letter Carrier Jeremy Downing was delivering mail on a summer day in Miamisburg, OH, when a customer approached him, frantically asking if he’d seen her 2-year-old son.
The woman said the boy had apparently slipped out the front door while she was preoccupied elsewhere in their residence, and Downing assured her he would keep an eye out for him.
As the Postal Service employee continued his route, he spotted the stray toddler heading toward a busy street and a retention pond.
“Hey, buddy,” Downing calmly said to the child before walking him home.
Downing sat on the porch, keeping watch on the boy as he played nearby until his mother returned from searching for him.
“She was so very grateful,” Downing recalled later. “I was reminded how important postal employees are to the community.”