Three DeKalb County sanitation workers were presented with certificates of appreciation for rescuing a young woman just moments after she was dumped into their garbage truck.
On Tuesday morning, DeKalb County Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson and the police department personally acknowledged ZahMontay Cherry, Richard Jones, and Peter Williams for their honorable actions, WSB-TV reported.
“Without the attention and dedication of these employees, there is no doubt great harm, if not death, would have been imminent,” the department wrote via Twitter.
On Oct. 4, Cherry, Jones, and Williams were on the job when a normal work load turned into a rescue mission in the 6700 block of Old Covington Road in Stonecrest.
When they attempted to empty a heavy trash bin, Cherry and Jones were shocked to see a young girl’s body fall out. According to Tracy Hutchinson
, CEO of DeKalb County Sanitation, the pair described seeing a human arm “waving,” KIRO 7 reported.They spotted her and alerted the driver just moments before she could have been crushed by the garbage trash compactor.
“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 said, per 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 recounted.
The little girl was reportedly missing for three days and had been sleeping in the trash container.
“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 said per the news outlet.
Eventually, the heroic men were able to get the young woman out safely before officers and paramedics responded to the scene.