By Stephanie Robusto
WMBF
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. — A corrections officer recently went above and beyond the call of duty, helping to save the life of a woman she just met.
Thousands of people walk through the doors of the J. Reuben Long Detention Center every week: some convicted of crimes, others trying to get their loved ones out of jail. As a corrections officer, Sebrina Bellamy never knows who may walk up to her desk, but she will always remember them.
“To this day, I can remember their faces when they come back, and remember their voices on the phone,” said Officer Sebrina Bellamy, on the force for 16 years. Now, a local family will never forget her.
During a busy shift in September, the phone rang at the visitation desk where Bellamy was working. The woman on the other line demanded to speak to her. “I was hesitant to get on the phone because I was helping someone else. She told my partner she wouldn’t speak to anyone else,” recalled Officer Bellamy.
Officer Bellamy’s strong memory helped her to place the woman’s voice on the other end of the phone. She had been in the Visitation Department just days earlier, scheduling a visit to see a loved one in jail. Bellamy recalled during that visit. The woman opened up to her, telling her about how badly she missed her husband who had recently passed away, and that she didn’t have the money to get her friend out of jail.
She felt a connection to the corrections officer, which is why a few days later, she called to talk. But this time, the conversation was unexpected.
“She told me she had nothing to live for,” Officer Bellamy recalled. “She said, ‘Ms. Bellamy, if you hang up this phone, I’m going to kill myself.’” The words hit home, as Officer Bellamy’s nephew had just committed suicide a few months earlier.
Full story: Local corrections officer helps save woman’s life