Prisoners jump into action and save armed guard's life after he passes out and stops breathing

The prisoners say they just felt like they needed to do the right thing, and weren't trying to receive recognition

Six inmates worked fast to save the life of a prison guard watching over them

Six Georgia inmates have been praised for their heroism after moving fast to save the life of a guard overseeing them.

The inmates called 911 after the guard passed out on a hot day with 100 percent humidity. The collapsed officer was down and unconscious for about a minute and wasn’t really breathing at first, inmate Greg Williams said.

“When he started breathing, it was just real heavy and real fast”, Williams said.

After the corrections officer collapsed the inmates quickly opened his shirt and removed his bulletproof vest so that they could provide CPR and so that the officer wouldn’t have such thick layers to trap heat in.

EMS later arrived and provided assistance, helping the officer back to health. But the Polk County Sheriff’s Office has cheered the speedy response from the six inmates.

“They really stepped up in a time of crisis, and show that they care about my officers”, Sheriff Johnny Moats said. “That really speaks a lot about my officers too, how they treat these inmates. They treat them like people. Like family”.

The inmates were rewarded with a free lunch with desserts provided by the officer’s family members, a thank you for doing the right thing. The Sheriff’s office shared a Facebook post praising them for their actions.

But Williams says that they didn’t act quickly for a reward or for any kind of recognition. They did it simply because they felt like they needed to.

“When that happened, in my opinion, it wasn’t about who is in jail and who wasn’t”, he said. “It was about a man going down and we had to help him”.

Williams’ criminal record wasn’t made available on the Georgia state prisoner registry, an indicator that the is likely a first time offender since those records aren’t posted online.