3 college students help woman clear snow at her elderly father’s home

Published 9:05 am Monday, March 2, 2015

Star Photo/Brandon Hicks J.L. Collins stands in the driveway that was cleared for him by some good samaritans.

Star Photo/Brandon Hicks
J.L. Collins stands in the driveway that was cleared for him by some good samaritans.

On Thursday, 6 inches of snow covered the driveway and sidewalk at J.L. Collins’ home on Well Street in Elizabethton.

Removing it was an impossible task for the 82-year-old disabled Korean veteran, so his daughter, Teresa Carver, came over to help.

It didn’t take her long to realize she had taken on a tough gig.

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“I was out there shoveling snow around the mailbox to make a path for the mailman,” she said. “There was still some ice under the snow, and I was having a rough time when a car passed by and then stopped and started slowly backing up.”

Leery, she said she was pleasantly surprised when three young men got out of the car and asked her if she needed help.

“They said I looked like I was struggling,” Carver said. “That was wonderful, because I was struggling.”

The men identified themselves as Ryan, Harrison and Chance, and as members of the Milligan soccer team.

They offered to help and before long, they had cleared the area around the mailbox as well as the walkway and carport.

“They did all that, and they wouldn’t take a dime,” Collins said. “It was just so nice of them.”

Collins invited the young men in to warm up and learned they were driving around looking for a place to sleigh ride. Collins and Carver suggested Bemberg Hill behind Ingles.

“They left, but before they went, they took my phone number,” Collins said. “They said they would call if it snowed again and one of them would come and clean my driveway off for me.”

“I thought it was wonderful what they did,” Carver said. “It’s great to think someone will actually stop and help you. They are definitely good Samaritans, and they were a blessing. I’m very appreciative.”