Cliff Godwin, Helen Lacey Three Notch EMC had a very special visitor. A TNEMC customer Mrs. W.A. Lacey of Cedar Springs, along with her daughter Mrs. Joy Phillips, came by to personally thank meter reader Cliff Godwin for his possible life-saving actions on February 3, 2009.

That morning at approximately 8:30 am Cliff was reading his route in the Cedar Springs area of TNEMC’s service territory. The temperature was about 30 degrees when he pulled up the long drive to Mrs. Lacey’s rural home. Upon arrival, he discovered that Mrs. Lacey, who is widowed and living alone, had fallen in her yard and could not get up. It was later discovered in the emergency room that she had suffered a severely broken hip. Cliff has had extensive first aid training at TNEMC and had previously served in the U.S. Navy, also receiving first aid training there. He immediately removed his jacket and placed it over Mrs. Lacey to help keep her warm. After making her as comfortable as possible, he called the Early Co. 911 dispatcher and relayed information about the situation as well as the precise location. Cliff stayed with the victim until the EMTs and ambulance arrived to provide further treatment.

Mrs. Lacey’s daughter later related to TNEMC that her mother truly believes that due to the remoteness of her home, the extent of her injuries and the low temperature that morning that Cliff saved her life. She has no family living nearby and was expecting no visitors that morning.

As a result of his actions, Cliff was awarded one of the annual Georgia EMC Lifesaving Awards presented at the GEMC Annual Meeting in Augusta in November. The awards are given annually to EMC employees who have performed heroic acts to aid others in distress.

Cliff has been a valued employee of TNEMC for over 21 years and we are very proud of him, a Three Notch spokesperson remarked.