A missing 15-year-old girl was saved by three Georgia sanitation workers after she was found in a trash can and moments before she would have been crushed in the garbage truck.
Richard Jones and Peter Williams clocked into work and went to work as normal on Oct. 4, but they were shocked to find a person in the rubbish, WSB TV reported.
As they were picking up the trash can, the group noticed it was heavier and held more than normal trash.
“I dumped it and a body came out. I went to the driver and I’m like, ‘Man, there’s a dead body back there,’”Cherry spoke to WSB-TV.
“I saw her come out – he (Cherry) didn’t really react until I reacted. I was like ‘Whoa.’ I backed up (and) I noticed there was a little girl back there,”Jones spoke to WSB-TV.
“So, once they brought it to my attention I initially shut off the truck because once I stepped on the gas, it would’ve automatically crushed her,”Williams shared his thoughts with WSB-TV.
After she was missing for three days, the three men became her heroes.
Mereda Davis Johnson (Dekalb County Commissioner District 5), recognized their efforts and gave them a certificate.
“Today I had the pleasure of honoring three DeKalb County Sanitation Workers for saving a young woman’s life. I want to thank ZahMontay Cherry, Richard Jones, and Peter Williams again for their swift action,”The commissioner said so.
Dekalb County also expressed gratitude to the sanitation workers who saved the young woman that day.
“Today we applaud the efforts of Sanitation workers Cherry, Jones, and Williams who were able to save the life of a young lady who fell asleep in a trash container that was dumped into the garbage truck,”In a tweet, police said so.
Police believe that the young lady might have been injured or even died if it wasn’t for the intervention of three sanitation workers.