Inmates hailed as heroes for helping supervisor who fell ill, collapsed on roadside

Three North Carolina inmates were honored by local law enforcement officials with a Life Saving Award after coming to the rescue of their roadside supervisor who collapsed while on duty.

Roy William Smith, Rosendo Morales-Sanchez and Franklin Edens Jr. are inmates at a Bladen County Jail in Elizabethtown, North Carolina. The three men were picking up trash alongside a local road on Wednesday afternoon when their supervisor, James Smith, fell ill, according to Wilmington, North Carolina news station WECT. The news outlet reports that the inmates saw Smith beginning to lose his balance before stumbling into a ditch. Immediately, Edens sprang into action by rushing over to Smith, and luckily got the attention of two people driving by.

Edens told WECT that he called 911 using Smith’s cell phone and waited beside his supervisor with the other two inmates until paramedics and law enforcement arrived. Roy William Smith said that that’s exactly what he would want someone to do for his own family.

“If that was my father laying beside the road, I would want somebody to help him instead of running off,” he told WECT.

Smith was taken to the hospital and was diagnosed with a stroke in the intensive care unit of Duke University Hospital in Durham.

The Bladen County Sheriff’s Office took to its Facebook page on Wednesday night to ask for prayers for Smith, while also thanking the three inmates who came to his aid.

However, the men were in for a surprise when they each received a Life Saving Award the following day.

A photo tweeted out by a WECT reporter shows the three men with their awards in hand after having been individually recognized by Sheriff Jim McVicker during a ceremony.

Some have responded to the tweet to ask that the men be released early after their good deed. McVicker told WECT that the awards will be placed in each of the inmate’s files to hopefully help get them jobs after their release.

The Bladen County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment.

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