Hero dad walks through 30 miles of flood debris to make daughter’s wedding
A South Carolina father’s two-hour drive to his daughter’s wedding turned into a treacherous 30-mile hike through the debris left behind by Hurricane Helene.
David Jones traveled five and a half hours on foot after initially driving seven hours to walk his daughter Elizabeth Marquez down the aisle at her wedding in Johnson City, Tennessee.
Despite the obstacles, the marathon-running father was determined to make it to his daughter’s wedding.
When state troopers on Interstate 26 told him around 2 a.m. that the rest of the road was unnavigable, Jones put on his running shoes and made the incredible journey over eight- to ten-foot piles of rubble in total darkness.
David Jones walked five and a half hours after driving seven hours to walk his daughter Elizabeth Marquez down the aisle at her wedding in Johnson City, Tennessee
When state troopers on Interstate 26 told him around 2 a.m. that the rest of the road was unnavigable, Jones put on his running shoes and made the incredible journey over eight- to ten-foot piles of rubble in total darkness.
Jones was at one point stuck up to his knees in mud and had an encounter with a backhoe before getting back onto Interstate 26 on foot using a reflective pole to avoid being hit by a car. PHOTO: From left to right David Jones, Ava Jones, Daniel Marquez and Elizabeth Marquez
Jones said WJHL a harrowing experience that night when cleaning crews were removing debris with a backhoe.
βI was up to my knees and couldn’t move and he can’t see me.
βHis cab was facing the other way most of the time and he spins this thing around and I duck and think this could be it.β
He was eventually able to free himself and returned to Interstate 26, continuing to walk with a reflective pole so cars wouldn’t hit him.
As Jones completed the 30-mile journey to the wedding, his daughter Elizabeth told WJHL she had no idea how long it had taken her father to get there.
“That’s so emotionally moving that my dad loves me so much that he would come and do all this just to go to my wedding.”
Jones walked her down the aisle and presented the happy couple with his trusty reflective stake that had helped him get through the night.
He hoped it would remind them to remain a positive reflection of each other.
The father said he was no hero and that any father would do what he did, although Elizabeth was steadfast in her belief that Jones was a hero to her.
When Jones completed the 30-mile journey to the wedding, his daughter Elizabeth told WJHL she had no idea how far her father had gone to get there.
Jones walked her down the aisle and presented the happy couple with his trusty reflective stake that got him through the night, reminding them to remain a positive reflection of each other.
The father said he was no hero and that any father would do what he did, although Elizabeth was steadfast in her belief that Jones was a hero to her.
Hurricane Helene highlighted the invincible human spirit people have when it comes to their loved ones, like Sam Perkins, 38, who made a perilous 11-mile trek to save his parents in the mountains of North Carolina.
The pair were stuck in the remote city of Asheville, ground zero of Hurricane Helene, where 30 of the 121 hurricane deaths occurred.
The scenario in Asheville is so dire as survivors say bodies are ‘stuck in trees’.
Perkins, determined to save his parents, told DailyMail.com he didn’t think twice about making the trip.
βI did this because I have parents who are great to me,β he told DailyMail.com