According to People, David Jones traveled by car and then foot through Hurricane Helene storm debris.
(Image by Stella Carter/Stellar Photography via People)
Nothing would stop David Jones from walking his daughter, Elizabeth, down the aisle – not even a hurricane.
Jones told People that after he weathered Hurricane Helene at home in South Carolina, he was determined to get to his daughter’s wedding in Tennessee. He got his generator going on Friday, Sept. 27 and started what would normally be a two-hour trip by car.
Once he made it across the state line into Tennessee – seven hours later – he saw the interstate was completely shut down. Law enforcement officers reported that the road was closed, the back roads were washed away and the one bridge left standing was unstable. Jones told People that he parked his SUV by an exit ramp and started walking to Johnson City – at 2 a.m. “I’m going to be there to walk her down the aisle,” he said to the officers.
The devastation he saw along the way was unimaginable. He explained to any state troopers he passed along the way that he had to make it to Elizabeth’s wedding at 11 a.m. At one point, he got stuck in mud and had to dig his shoe out. “Hollywood could not have done a better description,” he told People. “The devastation is beyond description.”
When he got south of Erwin, the roads were better. At one point, an officer stopped to ask if he was the man going to his daughter’s wedding and gave him a ride downtown, according to People. As cars passed him, he walked with a red reflector he found on the side of the road so that passersby could see him in the dark. A truck stopped and drove him the last eight miles to his other home in Johnson City. While the home had no power or water, Jones changed into a spare suit and made it to St. Mary’s Church in time. “It meant the world,” Jones told People. “Every dad wants to walk his daughters down the aisle.”
After a candlelight ceremony at the church, Jones presented the newlyweds with the reflector he carried on his 27-mile journey. “I told them to keep the reflector as a reminder to always protect each other, even in your darkest hours,” Jones said.
(Image by Stella Carter/Stellar Photography via People)
