“I went to the driver and I’m like, ‘Man, there’s a dead body back there,’” ZahMontay Cherry told WSB-TV.
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.
ZahMontay Cherry, Richard Jones, and Peter Williams clocked in and went to work like any normal day on Oct. 4 but during their shift they were surprised when they found a person in the garbage, WSB-TV reported.
When the group was picking up the trash bin, they noticed it was heavier than most and held more than just 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 told 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 told 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 told WSB-TV.
The three men were the young woman's heroes after she had been missing for three days.
Their heroic efforts have been recognized by the Dekalb County commissioner of District 5, Mereda Davis Johnson, who awarded them a certificate of appreciation.
“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,” said the commissioner.
Dekalb County also thanked the sanitation workers for their efforts in saving 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,” said police in a tweet.
According to police, the young lady may have been harmed or even died had the three sanitation workers not stepped in to save her.
