A dose of hope

In this time of pandemic, with a seemingly endless stream of bad news, all of us need a dose of hope — faith in humanity restored. Here is one:

It’s a story about four men on different sides of the law.

Three inmates in Georgia’s Gwinnett County jail stepped forward to help a badly injured deputy on July 28. Almost everyone in the 60-man cell block was asleep, although some had noticed earlier that Deputy Warren Hobbs didn’t seem to be feeling well. Inmate Mitchell Smalls was still awake.

He saw the deputy hit the floor, cracking his head open and leaving him- unconscious and bleeding. Mr. Smalls immediately started making noise and trying to rouse his fellow inmates. Mr. Smalls hollered and banged on his cell door. Other inmates awakened and were alerted to what was going on. Soon 60 men were yelling the deputy’s name, calling for help and banging on their cell doors.

Mr. Hobbs was roused by the clamor. He later said all he could comprehend was that maybe an inmate was ill. Before collapsing again, Mr. Hobbs hit the switch to open cell doors.

Mr. Smalls and fellow inmates Walter Whitehead and Terry Lovelace ran to the deputy’s crumpled body. They got on the phone and they go on the deputy’s walkie-talkie to summon help that, thankfully, came quickly.

Doctors say Mr. Hobbs collapsed because he’d suffered a heart attack. He was taken to the hospital and is now recovering at home.

“It scared me,” Mr. Whitehead said. “I don’t care if it’s a police officer or whoever it was. I will do whatever I can to save a man. I don’t want anyone to die.”

In this time of protests and riots, the fact that police officers and inmates are all people is often lost, depending on which side you’re on.

Our common humanity — it’s our hope. No matter what their circumstances in life, some people decide to do the right thing — choosing to do good rather than simply wallowing in despair and apathy. Clearly, the inmates made bad choices in life. That doesn’t mean a person is condemned to a lifetime of bad choices. Do the right thing here and now.

A statement posted by the sheriff’s department says it all.

“These inmates had no obligation whatsoever to render aid to a bleeding, vulnerable deputy, but they didn’t hesitate. Many people have strong opinions about law enforcement officers and criminals, but this incident clearly illustrates the potential goodness found in both.”