Pa. Newspaper Carrier Rescues Woman From Storm

Jan. 21--ADAMSVILLE -- David Bartholomew said at first glance, he thought the figure sitting by the road may have been a mannequin -- put there by some kids playing a joke, maybe.

But a closer look revealed that wasn't the case at all. The figure was, in fact, a person: An elderly woman, appearing to be somewhere around her 80s, sitting up against a utility pole on a snowy Atlantic roadside around 3 a.m. Friday, exposed to well-below-freezing temperatures and wearing only sweatpants, a sweater and some light boots.

The Meadville Tribune carrier came across the unidentified woman -- who said little other than that she was very cold and that her back hurt -- as he was about halfway through his daily western Crawford County delivery route. The emergency personnel who arrived soon after Bartholomew called them to the Thomas Road location told him that if he hadn't come across her when he did, she may not have survived much longer. Temperatures were in the teens across most of the county Friday morning -- cold enough to cause frostbite and potentially-deadly hypothermia, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"You could tell she had been out there for a while," said Bartholomew, adding that the foot-tracks around the area the woman was sitting were getting snow-covered by the time he came across her.

Bartholomew said he covered the woman -- who appeared disoriented and confused -- with warm hunting clothes he had in his truck, and "tried to comfort her" until emergency crews arrived.

Within about 15 minutes of being found, the woman was in the care of Fallowfield Volunteer Fire Department personnel and then inside a Conneaut Lake-area ambulance service's vehicle, being transported to a Greenville-area hospital, said Bartholomew.

Pennsylvania State Police reportedly also assisted at the scene, but didn't issue a report and couldn't provide further information Friday. Fire department officials also couldn't be reached for further comment, and authorities at the hospital couldn't provide information on the woman's condition as of Friday night.

Bartholomew said he's hopeful officials will have been able to identify the woman and locate her family, and that "she's all right and back home" soon.

"I guess it's a good thing," he said of finding her when he did. She's "someone's wife, or mother, or grandmother. I hope she's all right."

Ryan Smith can be reached at 724-6370 or by email at rsmith@meadvilletribune.com.

Copyright 2012 - The Meadville Tribune, Pa.