Loved ones remember firefighter killed in Nicholas County crime spree
Brody Hanna was just 29
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - A life taken too soon.
“It doesn’t feel real, it still doesn’t feel real. It feels like a piece of me is gone, and I know it is,” Brody’s fiancé Catelyn Bell said. “In my mind he’s just going to come home, he’s going to come home and everything’s going to be fine. I can’t accept it. I can’t accept it that my entire world is gone.”
Troopers say 29-year-old, Brody Hanna, was killed Sunday evening in a car crash.
Bell said the crash has left everyone close to Brody mourning his loss.
“I have never been so hurt in my life, I have never felt so lost and they are as lost as me. Nobody knows what to do without him,” she said.
If you’d like to help out the family, please use this link to their GoFundMe.
Bell wants everyone to know Brody was a selfless man who always put others before himself, which was part of the reason he joined the Nettie Volunteer Fire Department.
“He loved the fire department, it was his passion, he felt that it was his purpose. If he could do something to help somebody else that was what he done. He put so much into that. He loved his community; he loved his people so much,” she said.
Brody was a son, a father, a fiancé, a firefighter and a friend to all. Those that loved him say his passing will never be forgotten.
WSAZ’s Adriana Doria asked, “If you right now could say something to Brody, what would you say?”
“I would let him know, how much I loved him because I did not do that enough. I would hug him and tell him how much I cared and I would thank him for everything he’s ever done for me because I appreciated him more than I ever said,” Bell said.
According to the Nettie Volunteer Fire Department, Brody Hanna will be returned home to Nicholas County from Charleston starting at noon Thursday. His funeral services will be from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21, at the Nettie Fire Department Bingo Hall.
His friend Brandi Gifford says Brody was a caring man and a loving friend.
“He was such a family person. He was the one always telling people to tell everyone how much you love them and you don’t know when your last moment is going to be,” Gifford said.
And his friend, Jenny Knight agreed, saying she will take care of everything.
“I love you, Brody. I will be there for you and your family, for Cate and for Owen. We’ve got your back, and you just rest in peace, and we will take it from there,” Knight said.
A community of loved ones shared one message after his passing: cherish every moment, because life can end in the blink of an eye.
“Always tell everyone you love them before they leave. Hug them, even if they are just going a mile down the road, let them know.”
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