Darlington County, SC (WLTX) - We never know how a random act of kindness can impact our lives - whether you're the giver, or the recipient.
For one Columbia man, an act of generosity by a trooper from the South Carolina Highway Patrol helped his family get to a very important event on time.
Now, he wants to thank him.
"I was in shock. I am still in shock," said Columbia resident, William Jones.
10 a.m. December 30, Jones, 65, his fiancee and his 92-year-old mother were on a tight schedule driving down Interstate 20 toward Florence.
"I was on my way to Florence for a funeral, my uncle's funeral," he said.
When they hit Darlington County, the unexpected happened.
"Got to Exit 131 and I blew out a tire," said Jones.
By chance, a state trooper pulled up right behind them.
"I checked and I didn't have a jack in the back of the car," said Jones. "So [the trooper] went and got his jack, turned around, then he put the jack up under the car, jacked it up, loosened the lugs and took the tire off."
In a matter of 10, 15 minutes, thanks to the kindness of a stranger, the Jones family could get back on the road.
"He got out, put the donut on and shook my hand and said, 'Make it to the funeral on time'," Jones recalled. "It was an act of kindness I'd never seen before, and with all the negative press the police departments and the different areas are getting, it just surprised me."
After Jones returned home, he found the trooper's contact information. He then got a co-worker to help compose a letter to Corporal R.J. Gannon.
He sent a thank you letter to the man in uniform who took 15 minutes of his time to go the extra mile.
"He may have had to stop, but he didn't have to do what he did," said Jones.
Jones says the funeral was for his mother's last surviving sibling, so it meant the world for his mother to get to Florence on time.