"With a heavy heart, I will resume my campaign tomorrow. I do so filled with the inspiration of Braden's life story," Ben Carson wrote in a Facebook post. | AP Photo Ben Carson plans Thursday return to campaign trail

Ben Carson will return to the trail Thursday "with a heavy heart" following the death of a 25-year-old campaign volunteer who succumbed to injuries suffered in a car accident.

Braden Joplin, a Texas student who was working for Carson in Iowa, died at an Omaha hospital on Wednesday after the van he and three other Carson supporters were riding in skidded on ice and was struck by another vehicle.


"With a heavy heart, I will resume my campaign tomorrow," Carson said in a Facebook post. "I do so filled with the inspiration of Braden's life story. He poured his heart into this campaign knowing this election is about something bigger than ourselves."

After news of the accident broke, Carson canceled his remaining events for the day as well as a series of events set for Wednesday. The accident prompted an outpouring of support from rival campaigns and a chance for more somber reflection at a moment when the political narrative was being dominated by Sarah Palin's endorsement of Republican poll leader Donald Trump.

According to the Daily Toreador of Texas Tech University, Joplin was a student at Texas Tech. The newspaper said Joplin had been a volunteer for Carson in Iowa since earlier this month. He had attended Robert E. Lee High School in Midland, Texas.

Two other volunteers and an Iowa staffer also in the van that crashed were released from the hospital and are expected to fully recover, the campaign announced.