We are hearing more and more about the devastation wrought by last weekend’s Hurricane Helene, and how our fellow Americans in Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, and Eastern Georgia have been adversely affected. Towns completely destroyed, too many lives lost, and way too much government incompetence and malfeasance.
But we are also hearing about the good: neighbors helping neighbors, brave heroes in private aircraft reaching remote areas with means of communication, supplies, food, water, and hope. This week’s Feel-Good Friday offering is a Helene hero story of a different variety, but it is still one for the books.
David Jones had to travel from Boiling Springs, South Carolina, to Johnson City, Tennessee–normally a two-and-a-half hour or so drive–to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding. Then Hurricane Helene and its subsequent destruction, threw a major wrench into his plans:
A Boiling Springs, South Carolina man managed to walk about 17 miles through the night after Tropical Storm Helene hit the western Carolinas and Tennessee to get to Johnson City, to walk his daughter, Elizabeth, down the aisle at her wedding.
All told it was a 30-mile walk. Jones set out on Friday afternoon to make the drive to Tennessee and was stopped by state troopers on Interstate 26; They told him that because of the washed-out roads, bridges, and generally dangerous conditions, they couldn’t let him go any further:
“At the time, I had no cell service and no power and no idea of the magnitude of what had happened,” Jones said.
He drove as far as he could on Interstate 26 before troopers said his car could make it no further due to washed-out roads, bridges and dangerous conditions. At that point, he was at Exit 43, Temple Hill Road, in Unicoi County, Tennessee.
“I told the troopers that my daughter is getting married at 11:00 and it’s now 2:00 and I’ve got to get to Johnson City to walk her down the aisle,” Jones said.
Now that’s a father’s love and a determined soul. Jones is a marathoner, having accomplished the completion of two races, so having to trek on foot for what he estimated was less than 30 miles was of little consequence to him; or so he thought. Instead of a marathon, Jones encountered an obstacle course. He had to traverse over mounds and mounds of broken road, broken structures, and debris on his trek, and at one point he was stuck in mud up to his knees, and almost got wiped out by a cleanup crew with a backhoe attempting to clear the road.
Jones managed to escape that harrowing ordeal, and moved closer to his destination, when another trooper spoke to him:
As he drew closer to Erwin, Tennessee, he said that a trooper approached him. “He said, ‘Are you the one trying to get to his daughter’s wedding? We’re all talking about you. Everyone says you’re so determined!'” Jones said.
That trooper offered him a ride two miles closer to his destination, and Jones resumed walking, picking up a reflector on the side of a narrow, two-lane highway, for safety.
Eventually, a driver offered him a ride for the last eight miles of his trip, and Jones realized it was a former colleague who had been unable to sleep and wanted to drive over to some property to check on it since the storm had been so strong.
“Talk about providence and divine intervention. Not only was this someone I knew and trusted, he couldn’t sleep! I knew God was keeping him awake to help me,” Jones said.
He was able to make it to his home in Johnson City to freshen up and made it to the church in time to walk Elizabeth, down the aisle on Saturday morning.
WATCH:
As part of their wedding gift, Jones gave his daughter Elizabeth and her new husband the reflector that he carried on the road for safety. He said it was a reminder for the couple to be “a protector [of each other], a good reflection of each other and of God.” David Jones embodied all these through his courageous and sacrificial act of making a hazardous journey through the muck and the mire in order to give Elizabeth away.
Jones brushed it off, saying that this is what Dads do. Elizabeth disagreed, and so do the rest of us. What Jones is, is a rock star, an incredible example of the Father heart of God, and a bright, shining symbol of the American spirit in these dark and uncertain times.
