The sheriff in Polk County, Ga., has lessened the sentences of six inmates who stepped up and helped a prison guard after he had a medical emergency.
The inmates were on a work detail at a local cemetery last week with a deputy who had a coughing fit and collapsed while on duty on June 12.
But instead of running when presented with an opportunity, they decided to stay and help out.
“It made me feel really good that they thought enough of one of my officers to help him,” Polk County Sheriff Johnny Moats told the New York Times.
Moats said he will recommend that their sentences be cut by at least a quarter, because of the good deed.
The deputy, who didn’t want to be named, according to NBC affiliate WXIA , said he knew the inmates well, because he worked with them for five days a week.
“I started coughing spells, and every time I got those, I’d get hotter,” the deputy told WXIA. “It was just harder to keep up…I just finally went down after a couple of minutes doing that.”
He also suffers from chronic Chiari malformation, which he said contributed to the fit.
During the coughing fit, the inmates came to his rescue, removing his shirt and bullet proof vest to perform CPR. One of them used the deputy’s phone to call 911.
“None of my guys ran,” the deputy told WXIA. “None of them did anything they shouldn’t have done.”
Greg Williams, one of the inmates told WXIA that it wasn’t about who was in jail, or who wasn’t.
“It was about a man going down and we had to help him,” he continued.
“That moment when they’re out, they’re not really inmates to you,” the deputy said. “They’re just a group of guys and you’re out. You try to be more like friends and in my case, it just worked out for the better.”
Along with the shorter sentence, the family of the injured officer brought the inmates pizza and cupcakes.
It’s a stark contrast to another recent story about inmates from Georgia who recently escaped, killing two prison guards.
“As we watched the horrific manhunt this week of the two inmates that killed two correctional officers and were captured last night, we all know that Monday could have ended differently for our officer,” the Polk County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Facebook post. “We are very proud of the actions of all six inmates involved.”
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