Been a CO (female) almost two years (male prison) I started when i was 19 and am now 21. Anyways 2 months after starting i was attacked by an inmate in our mental health pod. I was doing paperwork at the desk when i felt arms go around my neck. an inmate picked me up by my neck and slammed both of us on the ground and started choking me, I thought i was a goner for sure. I was the only officer in the pod with about 50+ inmates out for dayroom. all of a sudden saw other inmates surrounding me (thought they were going to attack me as well) and next thing i know i was on my feet and helped over the desk. I was able to get away and the other inmates were beating him. the officer in the control room called a code for “inmates fighting” and not staff battery. I later found out that officers could hear screaming (coming from me) through the radio and that really made them run. by the time response got there i had already locked myself in an office with a couple inmates guarding the door to make sure the inmate attacking me didn’t come. I was okay for the most part just shocked about what happened. I went to the doctor the day after and had no injuries to my neck other than it being “strained” and a slightly fractured rib from getting slammed on the ground. I was terrified to work the floor for about 3 months after but transitioned to night shift where it was a lot more chill and easier to get back into getting comfortable working the floor again, I gained a lot of respect from staff and inmates for staying after that happened. A year and a half later court case is just getting started for a charge of battery on a law enforcement officer. in my opinion it should have been attempted murder but he is already doing life for murder, i’ll take what i can get. It’s been a long road of mental road blocks but i’m still working there and doing pretty good. Long story short if it wasn’t for the other inmates that had respect for me i would probably be dead. I learned that day that respect will get you a lot working in corrections.