Trisha Jopson with the soldier, Jaylen, at the Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport on Christmas Eve, 12 hours after an accident totaled his car
By JOHN ANDERSON
A soldier from Fort Drum whose car was totaled in a horrific roll-over accident near Angelica on Christmas Eve morning made it home to Detroit for Christmas.
The crash took place on Wednesday around 5:47 a.m. on County Road 15 in Allen. The soldier, Jaylen, from the Detroit area, was initially trapped after the rollover. Incredibly, later that day he was working with the towing company to free his Army gear and 12 hours after the accident, he was at the airport heading home.
HOW HE GOT TO ALLEN
Just one year into the Army, Jaylen was stationed in Fort Drum near Watertown and just purchased his first car. He wanted to surprise his family at Christmas, so he signed out from his unit at midnight, jumped in the car and started the nine-hour drive. The GPS takes you from 390 to Interstate 86. However, the maps application on his phone found a slightly faster route, and had him get off 390 in Mount Morris where he would pick up I-86 in Angelica.
Anyone who has traveled those back roads — one minute asphalt, another gravel and even dirt — it can be difficult to navigate. Jaylen was driving his first car, in the dark and on a mix of snow and ice.
Angelica Fire and Rescue responded to the scene and Medical Transport Service (MTS) took him to Jones Memorial Hospital in Wellsville.
“That actually happens a lot, most of those accidents that we have on that stretch of County Road 15 are people from out of the area and their GPS sends them that way,” Angelica Fire and Rescue Chief Joshua Ford said. “That is one of the worst roads to drive, especially at night, in the winter, and if you are unfamiliar with it.”
The initial story:
VOLUNTEER FIRST RESPONDERS AND VETERANS HELP
As soon as the accident was posted by the Angelica Fire and Rescue page as well as the Wellsville Sun, community members wanted to help. So did those who responded to the scene.
Trisha Jopson and her husband, Rodney Jopson (a disabled military veteran) live in Belfast. Trisha is a member of the volunteer fire department in Angelica.
After the accident, Trisha and her son, Travis Ryan, were shopping for last minute Christmas gifts in Wellsville when they decided to check on Jaylen. Even though she is a first responder, she knows federal privacy laws would prevent her from seeing a patient. However, Jaylen said he didn’t mind and contacted them.
“My friend Michelle Miller purchased him new luggage and so many people reached out who wanted to get him a train ticket or help pay for a flight,” Trisha said. “It turns out his aunt paid for the flight. But we had so many people who were offering money so we asked if he would take it to give his aunt or use it toward a new vehicle. He politely refused the money but did accept a ride to the airport.”
The clock was ticking to get him home for Christmas. A Christmas Eve Uber in Allegany County would have cost him $200 just to get his belongings.
Jaylen was released from Jones Memorial and went with Trisha and Travis to For Kids Auto Repair & Towing in Belmont. They had towed the vehicle around 6:30 a.m. and hours later were having their company Christmas party for family and friends.
“We walked in during their event and they not only wanted to stop everything to help him get his gear, they even offered us food and pizza from their party!” Trisha said. “The employees and my son were able to get the car open and get his gear. This was very important to Jaylen. He wanted to get his military-issued items out of the car. You are not supposed to leave your gear and replacing it is not cheap.”
There was also the matter of the bill for the towing. While the employees don’t know Jaylen, they told him to take his belongings and make his flight. After the holidays are over, they can sort out the bill.
“My son Travis had wrecked his first car, too. He was telling him it’s ok, he had wrecked his first car. Jaylen also told us his grandfather was in the Army and fought in Vietnam,” Trisha said. “He then messaged Michelle asking to reimburse her for the luggage and Michelle said ‘absolutely not.’ Her son is active military. He doesn’t realize, once you sign those papers, you become part of that brotherhood and someone will always help you out.”
Trisha picked up her husband and they took Jaylen to the Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport.
“It was like living in a Hallmark Christmas movie, ‘We’ve got to get this soldier home!’ is all I could think,” Trisha said. She went to talk to Jaylen on the drive to Rochester from Belfast. However, Jaylen was sound asleep before they hit Caneadea.
Chief Ford added, “We are so fortunate to have so many in our community and county willing to help. Many people reached out asking what they could do to help get him home. It was definitely a Christmas miracle in my book — he was basically untouched in an accident that most would have been seriously injured, and still made it home 400 miles the same day!”
Jaylen texted Michelle when he got to the airport in Detroit, hours before the clock turned to Christmas.
THE SPIRIT OF VOLUNTEERING
Trisha agreed to this interview, but made it clear volunteers do not like to be singled out. But they do like to help.
“We don’t do what we do for recognition. When you become part of the fire department, you become family. It’s not Angelica, the county or state, it’s worldwide. You are a brother, regardless of your gender, you become part of a family,” Trisha said. “Our volunteer numbers at the fire department are down from 20 years ago and I don’t think this next generation knows that they are missing. Yes it is dangerous, but we look out for each other and what a gift it is to help other people. It’s sad that not everyone understands this. I am hoping we can get more people to join before we close down, we go regional, response times go down and insurance goes up because of your distance from a fire department.”
Trisha is originally Massapequa, with a population of close to 22,000. Her husband is from the Churchville-Chili area. They said they could never live anywhere else.
“This is one of the reasons we will never leave Allegany County. Will we ever find this again? No,” said Trisha, who started as a teen helping at the church and with Cub Scouts. ‘I can’t imagine NOT being a volunteer. As you get older it gets harder, but there’s always something you can do, whether it’s making sandwiches for those at a fire scene or driving someone to the airport!”
Trisha also remembers a recent accident the Angelica Fire and Rescue responded to and volunteers had to direct traffic and hold up cars in one lane at a time.
“Someone waiting in line got a flat tire and one of our volunteers went and changed her tire,” she said. “The person wasn’t involved in the accident, but that’s what our volunteers do, they help anyone in need.”
As Jaylen posed for photos with his new friends, the Dopson’s gave him a family Army Christmas ornament they had not put on the tree yet,
‘I thought I would give him that for a Christmas he will never forget,” Trisha said.
Allegany County Court Judge Terrence M. Parker, who serves on every bench including the state supreme court, is also a volunteer.
Trisha added, “Terry said it perfectly when he summed this all up, ‘That’s what volunteer firefighters do.’ And they all did.”
