State trooper goes extra mile to help a stranded couple

No one expects to have their plans drastically altered during the holidays–but for Kei and Brendan Clark, a recently married couple from BYU, their Thanksgiving drive from Utah to Canada was cut short in Idaho Falls last week after they hit a deer.

Luckily, Kei was uninjured, and Brendan received only a small burn on his wrist. But the miracles don’t stop there.

The state trooper who responded to the crash, Andrew Francis with the Idaho State Police, upon finishing the traffic report was instructed to simply drive them to a hotel. But he felt there was more he could do for the young and shaken up couple.

Francis explained his decision to invite the couple to stay the night with his family. “I just knew that that was something that if I was in their shoes, that would not be an easy thing to have to do,” Francis said.

The family opened up their home, and the next morning had a warm breakfast waiting, followed by Trooper Francis driving them to the rental car company.

“Times can be a little hard, you know, for a newly married couple still in school, and I just felt that it was an awesome opportunity to do something nice for someone else, and be able to, you know, impact their life, because they weren’t sure what was going to happen,” Francis said.

“There’s so much poor portrayal of law enforcement in the media,” Kei Clark said. “He definitely just opened his home and his family was super welcoming, and it really touched both of us, and we’re super grateful.”

“I always ask myself, how would I want my wife or my mother treated by law enforcement if they were in this same position, and I know in that case I did exactly what I would want done for my wife and kids or for my family ,and it’s not just what people would expect a cop to be, but rather changing people’s lives and bettering their current situation,” Francis said.

Francis says law enforcement is full of great men and women who go above and beyond on every call — and he’s just grateful he was in the right place to meet and help this young couple.