Retired couple finds off-duty paramedics who helped them after being hit in traffic

NEW RIVER VALLEY, Va. (WDBJ) - You may remember our story about the group of good Samaritans who stepped in to help an elderly couple after what could’ve been a deadly accident.

The paramedics who helped that night came forward after seeing this story; they are Jason Gifford and his fiancee, Erin Jones.

Erin and Jason said they were on their way home from dinner when they saw traffic was backed up. They stopped the car to see what happened and saw the retired couple on the ground.

“It’s kind of different when you pull up in your own personal vehicle; you don’t have all the tools and stuff like you’re at work, which you need, and so getting there with nothing to work, there’s a voice of comfort and you identify any life threats that they might have injury-wise and make sure that you know that one had been called and that they had appropriate resources on the way,” said Jason Gifford, a firefighter and paramedic at Radford Fire and EMS.

They say it was different responding to an emergency without the tools they’re used to, but it was second nature to do whatever they could to help.

“You really never off-duty. I mean, when something like that happens, you’re just not gonna walk past it or drive. You know, we were kind of, that’s our job. That’s what we do every day. So it’s just like second nature,” said Gifford.

“Yeah, you just focus with, you know, we pulled up and realize there are two people on the road. Yeah, obviously detailed. So, you know, switch flips and, you know, to go be helpful, as you said, it’s just second nature,” said Erin Jones, a paramedic at Montgomery County Jail and Christiansburg Rescue.

Erin and Jason called the elderly couple, Rita and Bob, to see how they were doing. The two thanked them for being the second set of angels they needed that night.

Erin and Jason say they weren’t the only ones to help that night; they saw several people in the community who hopped out of their cars to help too.

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