Timothy Meinch, and Charly Haley

DesMoines

OMAHA — A young campaign volunteer killed in a vehicle crash was compassionate, energetic and caring, a teary-eyed Ben Carson said Tuesday night.

Braden Joplin, 25, of Lubbock, Texas, died Tuesday afternoon following an icy highway collision that also sent a Carson campaign staffer and two other volunteers to Cass County Memorial Hospital.

“I had the opportunity to get to know (Braden) and the thing that impressed me the most is how compassionate he was and how caring he was about the feelings of other people,” Carson said at a brief press conference after meeting Joplin’s family at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

“I hope his death will not be in vain. He wanted America to be a kinder and a gentler place.”

The Republican presidential candidate said he had recently watched a video of Joplin making yard signs for the campaign. Carson noted Joplin's high energy and the fact that Joplin accomplished much in his short life.

“I just hope that maybe his death might help some people to think about the hard-heartedness that has infected our land. People are just mean and they just say things to try to hurt people. They don’t care about anybody but themselves and he was just the opposite of that,” Carson said from a podium at the Omaha medical center Tuesday.

The fatal accident canceled Carson's campaign schedule Tuesday and Wednesday, and he made an emergency trip from South Carolina to Omaha. The campaign chartered a private jet to transport Joplin's family from Texas to Omaha.

Carson, who was with his wife Candy, did not take any questions Tuesday night.

The crash occurred when a van driven by a campaign staffer lost control, crossed the highway median and was broadsided by a pickup truck on icy Interstate Highway 80 around 9:30 a.m. near Atlantic, according to the Iowa State Patrol.

Speaking to the media Tuesday night, Carson acknowledged by name the three injured victims who are serving the campaign and sent condolences to those injured in the pickup truck also involved in the crash.

A student from Texas working in Iowa

Joplin was a student at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. He had been in Iowa since early January to volunteer with the Carson campaign.

Joplin was transported to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha with serious injuries after Tuesday morning's crash. He died just after 4:30 p.m., according to a statement from hospital officials. The three other people in the van were treated at a hospital in Atlantic and released, said Ryan Rhodes, Carson's Iowa campaign director.

Joplin's family arrived at the medical center around 5 p.m., according to campaign staff who were waiting in the emergency room.

A Des Moines Register reporter had interviewed Joplin Jan. 7 in Cedar Rapids after he delivered a copy of Carson’s book, “You Have a Brain,” to a fifth-grade student at a town hall meeting at Isaac Newton Christian Academy.

Joplin said he was studying agriculture economics but decided to take off the spring semester “to save some money.”

He said he started volunteering for the Carson campaign in Iowa on Jan. 4 and planned to stay in the state the entire month.

“He’s an inspiring man,” Joplin had said of Carson. “I feel like he can bring hope to a nation that’s in turmoil.”

Earlier this month, campaign staff said it would have 200 volunteers working across Iowa for Carson in January. Many of them, like Joplin, pay for their own travel to get here but receive food and lodging in exchange for their work.

"This kid has put his heart and soul into this," Rhodes said.

Several people injured in crash

Five people, including three children, ages 5, 10 and 12, were in the truck that struck the vehicle carrying Carson campaign staff. The children were transported with injuries to a children's hospital in Omaha, according to a state patrol report released Tuesday evening. Their medical condition was not available.

Jonathan "Drew" McCall, 27, of Sugar Land, Texas, was driving the Carson van, and Brian Sutton, 42, was driving the pickup, according to the report.

Others injured in the crash were: Laneanne Lane, 34, of Exira, Iowa, who was in the pickup, and Aaron Ohnemus, 18, a volunteer in the van, according to the report. Carson's campaign identified the third volunteer in the van as Ryan Patrick Shellooe.

Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Nathan Ludwig.said roads were very icy in and around Atlantic at the time, and officers were responding to several crashes in the area.

Another accident near Atlantic killed two people Tuesday. Melissa Jones, 49, of Walnut, Iowa, and John Maxwell, 39, of Atlantic, died after their vehicle lost control while traveling east on Iowa Highway 83.

Campaign staff said they had not determined whether Iowa events scheduled for Thursday, including a stop in Atlantic, would be canceled.

Republican candidate Carly Fiorina canceled her Tuesday night events in Avoca and Council Bluffs due to the poor weather.

Several of Carson's rival presidential candidates offered their sympathies over social media, including Republicans Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, John Kasich and Rick Santorum.

Ben Carson's full released statement on Braden Joplin's death:

"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. I had the privilege of knowing Braden Joplin personally, and am filled with a deep and profound sadness at his passing. While we mourn this profound loss, I am thankful that our other campaign colleagues, Drew McCall, Aaron Ohnemus and Ryan Patrick Shellooe, have all been treated and released from the hospital.

"A presidential candidate asks a lot of his or her volunteers, working long hours in the cold, under-appreciated. They are the unsung heroes of the political process. The outpouring of support for Braden and his family from fellow candidates, as well as their staffs and volunteers, demonstrates that life will always transcend politics, and I thank them for their kind words. Please continue to keep Braden’s family and friends in your prayers as they struggle through this difficult time.

"Even after more than 30 years' experience counseling parents and family members in the most difficult of times, it never gets easier. But I find solace in the knowledge of God’s redeeming grace, and I pray that Braden's family finds comfort in the mercy of the Lord. Across America today, I ask everyone to take a moment to reflect on the preciousness of life and remember and honor the memory of Braden Joplin."