Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
ROY — A mail carrier in Roy is being considered for a Postmasters General Heroes' Award after he helped a woman who had fallen and couldn't get up.
Adam Benicosa was on his mailing route on May 31 when he saw 68-year-old Sherry Jarvis on the ground.
"Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some frantic waving, and I looked over, and it was one of my customers," Benicosa said.
Jarvis had fallen over and hit her head on the railroad ties lining her planter box.
"I was weeding, and I went to pull out this big weed. Well… the weed won," Jarvis said.
Jarvis was able to check herself for injuries, finding she got pretty beat up in the fall but didn't have any broken bones.
Jarvis said she tried calling out to some neighbors she could hear, but they didn't hear her. That's when she spotted her mailman, Benicosa, who jumped into action.
"I came around the corner, we got her up, and she said she couldn't feel her legs," Benicosa said.
"I would count to three. 'One, two, three, and then I'll lift you.' She kept saying 'No, no, I can't feel my legs yet.' We had to let some blood rush back into her legs to get her up," he recalled.
After getting Jarvis off the ground, Benicosa made sure she wasn't dizzy or dehydrated from the heat.
Benicosa has worked for the Postal Service for 30 years this summer. He said this isn't the first time he's had to help members of the community.
"She's probably the fifth person I had to help up," he said. "I had a woman that was in the middle of winter that was laying in her carport … thank goodness I came when I did because she'd been yelling for help."
Benicosa said he helped that woman get inside the house after finding her that winter.
He said he's also helped a child with a bee sting and helped people carry groceries inside their houses.
"It's not like I'm out here giving CPR to people that are in cardiac arrest," Benicosa said. "It's just these little moments. You know, just helping each other."
He said he knows that his community will reciprocate the kindness. On warm days like Thursday and Friday, he said he'll normally get around a half dozen water bottles in mailboxes on his route.
A week later, bruises are still lining Jarvis' right side, and there's a visible one on her forehead. She said she was going to get an X-ray of her arm on Friday.
As for the weed, Jarvis said the roots "went clear to China," and her son was able to pull it.
Benicosa's postmaster in Roy, Kade Bambrough, said Benicosa was nominated for the Internal Postmaster General Heroes' Award.
The award honors postal workers who go above and beyond the call of duty.
Bambrough said it can take a few weeks for the request to process. Once the request goes through, Benicosa will get a commendation letter from the Postmaster General and will appear in a "Heroes" column.
