A volunteer from Ben Carson’s campaign team who was involved in a car accident in Iowa Tuesday morning has died.
Braden Joplin, 25, died shortly after 4:30 p.m. CST Tuesday from injuries he sustained when the van he was in along with three others were lost control and collided with another vehicle on Interstate Highway 80, Iowa State Patrol confirmed.
Joplin was a student at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. He was one of 200 unpaid volunteers working in the Hawkeye State since the beginning of the month to get the vote out before the Feb. 1 primary.
“One of the precious few joys of campaigning is the privilege of meeting bright young men and women who are so enthusiastic about their country that they will freely give of their time and energy to work on its behalf. America lost one of those bright young men today,” Carson said in a statement.
Carson, who was in South Carolina at the time of the accident, immediately canceled his Tuesday and Wednesday campaign stops in South Carolina and California.
“Carson will be heading to Omaha as well to be with the family and help in any way he can,” a Carson aide said.
Rest In Peace Braden Joplin. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. pic.twitter.com/p87TCnD44p
— Ben & Candy Carson (@RealBenCarson) January 20, 2016
The campaign flew Joplin’s family to Iowa on a private jet. They arrived at University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha approximately half an hour after Joplin was pronounced dead.
The three other people involved in the crash — one campaign staffer and two volunteers — are injured, but in stable condition.
