UPS delivery driver credited with saving Alzheimer's patient

John Sease, 71, had wandered away from his home on Banbury Road, while walking his dog, the officer said, and police were canvassing the neighborhood, asking everyone they could if they had seen him.

Sease has Alzheimer's disease and is sensitive to heat, the officer explained, and it was important that they find him as soon as possible.

Donleycott hadn't seen Sease, but he told the officer he'd keep an eye out while he continued on his route.

About 30 minutes later, about 2 miles away on Sandia Drive, Donleycott saw a man walking a dog that matched the description the officer gave him.

"If that officer had not stopped me, I would have driven past this guy and not even thought twice about it," Donleycott said Wednesday.

The man turned out to be Sease.

"I pulled up beside him, and the first thing I noticed was that his pocket was full of rocks, and the rocks were falling out of his pocket," Donleycott said.

Sease and the dog looked exhausted, so Donleycott got out of his truck and gave them both bottled water.

He called 911, and they stood and talked while they waited for police to arrive to take him home.

Raleigh police are commending Donleycott for his service.

"With the heat that day and some of the frailty of (Sease), it wouldn't be farfetched to say that he saved his life," said Capt. Patrick Niemann, commander of the Raleigh Police Department's Southwest District. "For this delivery driver to have stopped and taken the time to not only call it in but to stay with this man, that really spoke volumes about him."

But Donleycott said he was just in the right place at the right time and thinks anyone would have waited with Sease.

"I think most of the credit goes to the officer who actually took the time to stop me and ask if I'd seen the guy," Donleycott said. "I believe he deserves most of the credit."

Sease's wife, Margaret Sease, said she can't even put into words her gratitude for the work police did and for Donleycott's staying with her husband.

"I was just ecstatic," she said, when she learned her husband had been found safe. "It was just like, 'Praise God, our prayers are answered.'"