VALDOSTA — One warm day in August 2007 was just like any other day at work for William “Bill” Bond, a second shift sergeant at Valdosta State Prison. He was standing outside in the front of the dining area, or “chow hall,” when, he said, a group of inmates suddenly circled and attacked him.

Bond was hit and stabbed multiple times, at least seven times, he recalls.

“They used broom handles, shanks and belt locks,” Bond said, reliving the incident.

After several minutes, which felt like many hours to him, two officers working inside the chow hall noticed the attack and came to Bond’s rescue.

“I believe that I would have died if they did not come when they did,” he said.

As the officers broke into the circle and dragged Bond out, the inmates attacked them. All three men had to receive medical treatment as a result of the incident.

Bond said that he was stabbed a total of four times. Two stab wounds he received in his back nicked one of his lungs, he said.

“After three surgeries on my right eye, it has been determined that my optic nerve is completely damaged,” he said. “Therefore, I have no sight in that eye anymore. The remainder of the injuries I received was just damage to the head.”

His injuries left him unable to return to work.

Another former correctional officer, William Lewis, said he was attacked twice during his tenure at Valdosta State Prison, once in July 2005 and a second time in June 2006. Lewis said that the June 2006 attack left him with an orbital fracture, as well as the need for a spinal stimulator and neck surgery to remove a disk.

Lewis said that he later found out that the inmate who attacked him had just been released from solitary confinement — after other officers discovered a letter the inmate wrote threatening to kill Lewis and three other prison employees.

“I was actually reprimanded because I got mad when I found out about the letter,” Lewis said. “I realized then that the inmates ran that prison.”

As a result of his injuries, Lewis eventually had to stop working. He has been out of work since February 2007.

Recent reports of violent incidents at Valdosta State Prison have triggered an uproar among former and present correctional officers who claim the inmates are out of control.

The outrage among past and present officers stem from the Oct. 25 attack of 19-year-old officer Zebedee Hankerson, who was beaten by at least three inmates while on duty at the prison. Hankerson’s brutal attack left him in need of surgery on his face and one of his eyes.