Only a few weeks after K105 reported on a Graves County Detention Center inmate working at the Mayfield candle factory during a December tornado saving several workers from the flattened building despite being severely injured, a Jessamine County inmate is being lauded for helping save the life of a deputy jailer and other inmates.
Jessamine County Jailer Jon Sallee said 30-year-old Terry Smallwood and three other inmates were being driven back to the jail on Wednesday afternoon from litter cleanup detail when the deputy jailer experienced a diabetic emergency.
Sallee told news outlets that the unnamed deputy passed out because of low blood sugar while driving on Chrisman Mill Road, just southwest of Nicholasville. Quickly, though, Smallwood, sitting in the passenger seat, was able to bring the vehicle under control before stopping the truck and putting it in park.
Smallwood then summoned an ambulance and gave the unconscious deputy care until first responders arrived on scene, Sallee said.
“I cannot thank inmate Smallwood enough for his heroic actions that day that potentially saved the lives of not only our deputy but also the other inmates in the vehicle, and citizens traveling the road that day,” Sallee told the Jessamine Journal.
“If you think about it, it could’ve went a lot of ways,” Sallee told the Lexington Herald-Leader. “There could’ve been a collision and hurt somebody else on the roadway, the deputy, the inmates. There could’ve been a lot of bad scenarios to happen, but his quick thinking was able to keep a deputy and everybody safe.”
The deputy was evaluated at the scene by emergency services personnel and released.
Smallwood has been an inmate at the Jessamine County Detention Center since June of the last year. He has a long list of convictions dating to 2014 for burglary, theft and drug trafficking, but is eligible for parole on May 1, 2022, according to the Kentucky Department of Corrections (KDC).
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
