04/22/2025
Topeka mail carrier Hero of the Year after saving man’s life
TOPEKA (KSNT) – The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) has awarded a Topeka man with the Western Region Hero of the Year award after he helped save a man’s life.
Gerald “Jerry” Loney was returning to his vehicle while delivering mail on his route when a man covered in blood approached him asking for help.
Loney immediately started caring for the man. A 911 operator talked Loney through applying a tourniquet to the man’s wrists.
“She said ‘Do you have any clean rags, anything to stop the bleeding? Is the bleeding spurting?’ I said, ‘Yes, it’s starting to slow down.’ She said, ‘You need to stop the bleeding.'”, Loney told 27 News. “He had a plaid red shirt like the one I’m wearing, and I said, ‘Get that off, I need it more than you do for you.’ And I took the sleeve as tight as I could and I wrapped it around his wrist.”
“Loney kept talking to and praying over the man until police, paramedics, and firefighters arrived,” the NALC wrote. “The police officer who took a statement from Loney later told him they were grateful for his actions, noting that most people would have just driven by.”
