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Good Samaritans help father in flipped van

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A van flipped Monday morning on Interstate 295 at J. Turner Butler Boulevard. The Florida Highway Patrol website said the crash closed the right lane of I-295 South.

Total strangers jumped into action to help save a local father trapped in the van. Action News Jax's crew was there as people tried to help free James Michael Ropon Jr.

Multiple witnesses told us it took a team of people to pry back the van's windshield to help get Ropon out.

We spoke with Ropon’s sister, Jasmine Ropon, who was emotional knowing in her brother’s darkest moments people were there to care for him.

Dozens of people came to her brother's aid when he was trapped inside his flipped vehicle. His sister she believes they saved his life.

“They didn’t know my brother. They had no idea who he was but they got (him) out of his car to make sure he was OK. I thank them so much,” Jasmine Ropon said.

Witnesses said Ropon was clipped by a semitruck when switching lanes before rolling over and hitting a metal pole. Ropon spoke to his sister from the intensive care unit at UF Health Jacksonville and told her what he could remember about the accident.

“Michael said that he remembered a guy in front of him slamming on his brakes, so he tried to get into another lane. After that, he really doesn’t remember anything besides, like, being pulled onto the concrete,” Jasmine Ropon said.

The FHP reports show Ropon failed to slow down behind another vehicle in front of him. Troopers said he veered off the right shoulder of I-295, striking a traffic sign pole. Ropon has been charged with careless driving.

But, Ropon’s sister is relieved her brother is still alive.

“He can’t feel his left arm and he has a neck brace on because he may have broken his clavicle, and he’s having some chest pain,” Jasmine Ropon said.

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