By Kathy Chaffin
kchaffin@salisburypost.com
A senior at West Rowan High School was killed Wednesday afternoon when he lost control of his truck on Woodleaf Barber Road and struck a tree.
Joe Hampton was “a very bright young man and a very personable young man,” said Beth Browning, guidance counselor at West. “When I think about Joe, I always think about how polite and mannerly he was with me.
“He was always pleasant and smiling. It’s just such a tragic loss.”
The single-vehicle accident at 3665 Woodleaf Barber Road was called in to the Rowan County 911 Center at 3:19 p.m. as a pin-in. Chief Kenny Payne of the Cleveland Fire Department said Hampton’s truck was wrapped around the tree when emergency personnel arrived.
Trooper David Deal of the N.C. Highway Patrol said Hampton was killed on impact. Hampton was traveling north on Woodleaf Barber Road in his Dodge Dakota pickup when he apparently ran off the right side of the road, overcorrected and struck a tree 10 feet off the road, Deal said.
“A contributing factor was probably exceeding safe speed for the condition of the roadway,” he said. “The roadway was wet.”
Hampton was wearing a seat belt, he said, and airbags on the vehicle deployed. Deal said no one witnessed the accident.
Rowan Rescue, Rowan EMS, the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office and the Cleveland and Woodleaf fire departments responded.
Browning said West Rowan Principal Jamie Durant notified staff of Hampton’s death Wednesday evening. “Counselors from other schools in the county will be available to students and staff,” she said. “This is always a hard situation to get through for young people.”
Hampton had applied to several colleges. Browning said she remembered one was the University of Hawaii because the secretary commented when she sent out his transcript that she had never mailed one there before.
It’s been a few years since West Rowan High School has lost a student, she said. “It’s a sick feeling, and Joe, he was just a fine young man.”
Steve Daniel, Hampton’s Latin teacher, was still reeling from the shock of the news Wednesday night. “It’s almost like a dream,” he said. “You think you’re going to wake up. …”
In addition to being in Daniel’s Latin class last year and this year, Hampton was a member of the Junior Classical League Latin Club and went to the state and national conventions with the teacher last year.
Daniel, who became emotional when talking about Hampton, said he was scheduled to go to the state convention this month and probably would have gone to the national convention this summer.
Hampton was also on the school’s Quiz Bowl team. “He was a wonderful kid, a wonderful student,” Daniel said. “Everybody liked him. He was fun. He was nice to everybody and different, but in a good way.
“He had a different sense of humor.”
Hampton became known as “Eight Toe Joe” after two of his toes were cut off in a lawn mower accident. “He always wore flip-flops so you could see his eight toes,” Daniel said.
Daniel’s son, Sam, and Hampton were friends. Hampton was planning to go to the University of North Carolina at Pembroke next year, according to his teacher.
Luke Miller, a junior at West, said Hampton wanted to be a criminal profiler for the FBI. “He would talk about it some at school,” he said. “He was really smart.”
Miller said he met Hampton in chemistry class last year, and the two became close friends. They were both in the Junior Classical League Latin Club and went to the conventions together.
They played random jokes on other students while they were at the national convention at Miami University in Ohio, Miller said. “He loved to have fun.”
Miller described Hampton as being tall with long, light brown hair. “He always wore jeans and T-shirts,” he said. “The most I ever seen him dress up was in a polo shirt and khakis.”
Miller said Hampton helped tutor other students at West Rowan. “He was always volunteering to help people with stuff that they needed done,” he said. “He was always there to help people.”
On April 18 of last year, Miller said Hampton was following behind him on White Road when he lost control of his Honda CRV and rolled it over. Miller, who had only bumps and bruises, said Hampton stayed with him for two hours afterward.
“He’d say, ‘Hey man, you’re going to be fine,’ ” Miller said. “He’d crack jokes here and there.”
Whenever they talked about the accident, Miller said Hampton “always said how surprised he was because we were just driving and then I flipped. It caught him off guard, and it caught me off guard.”
Hampton was nice to everybody, Miller said. “The whole school is going to be shocked,” he said. “Everybody knew Joe. Everybody was friends with him.”
Contact Kathy Chaffin at 704-797-4249.