HIRAM, GA -- Paulding County 911 tapes show House Speaker Glenn Richardson tried to commit suicide by taking sleeping pills. He told his parents it was too late to save him.

The 911 call was made by Richardson's mother Mertie Richardson after her son called her on the night of November 8th. The call and an incident report released by the Paulding County Sheriff Office shed light on what happened at Richardson's home in Hiram that night.

The 911 operator asked "What are you calling us about?" Mrs. Richardson replied "He told me he had taken sleeping pills, he had gotten very, very upset."

When the operator asked if he did this on purpose, Mrs. Richardson responded "Yes, he called to tell us that he loved us but it was too late for us to do anything."

But it wasn't too late. Paulding County Sheriff deputies responded to Richardson's home within minutes of the call. According to an incident report deputies found Richardson's front door unlocked and entered the residence to check on the victim.

According to the report, "Upon entering the master bedroom the victim was observed sitting on the edge of the bathtub with a silver revolver sitting on the counter in front of him."

The report said Richardson was semi-conscious and unresponsive to verbal commands. Deputies secured the revolver, a 357 magnum and found a "yellow suicide note" next to the gun. There was another note related to the suicide but no details of what was written in the notes.

Richardson was transported to the hospital. Suicide experts say the call to his parents probably saved the speakers life and gave him a chance to seek help. Julia Foster-Batth, the program manager for the Fulton County Department of Behavioral Health said "A lot of times people are in denial. They don't want to recognize that they may need help."

She said after an attempted suicide people need to get clinical help and possibly medication. "Generally after attempted suicide you would need to get some type of help to help you be able to deal with life or to find out what was going on in the first place," she said.

In a statement released Friday Speaker Richardson said he is seeing a physician and taking prescription medication. He said that by coming forward, he was hopeful that others may have the strength to seek treatment.