In honor of a deceased volunteer firefighter, one fire department helped put together a heartbreaking photoshoot with their fallen comrade’s newborn baby, which has now gone viral.
Brett Korves tragically died some nine months ago.
Brett, who was 30 at the time of his passing, was killed on April 4th, 2019 in a car accident while on his way to work.
Brett was a 10-year veteran of the Swansea Fire Department in Swansea, Illinois, and his partners in the department are not planning on letting his legacy of volunteerism and generally loving nature be forgotten.
Brett’s heartbreaking loss left his wife devastated by his sudden death.
Alex Korves, Brett’s widow, tried to explain how the event had impact the family:
“Brett woke up that morning, and he went to work […] we had our son, we had our house, we were doing everything the right way. Then, some person decided to hit my husband while going 94 mph,” Ms. Korves told Good Morning America .
Brett also left behind his 2-year-old son Brock, as well as another little surprise.
Only weeks after Brett’s death, Alex discovered that she was pregnant with their second child, a daughter.
Alex claimed that she was shocked and quite terrified upon the discovery, but that she was also excited to have one last piece of Brett to hold on to. Sadly, Brett was unaware of the pregnancy at the time of this death.
When Alex gave birth to her daughter, she received a touching gesture from a baby photographer.
After hearing of Brett and Alex’s story, Samantha Kallal, owner of Sugarfoot Photography , offered Alex a free photoshoot with newborn baby Brett Grace — named after her father. Ms. Kallal explained to GMA:
“I wanted to do anything I could to help them. I specialize in newborns and it felt like the way I could do something for her […] [Swansea Fire Department] is right by my studio, so I would drive by it on the way to work and think about it. I just wanted to reach out.”
Brett’s colleagues were also invited to take part.
Ms Kallal claimed that she thought that one or two of Brett’s colleagues would show up for the shoot, however, she was amazed when over 20 of the firemen arrived to get snaps taken with the new baby.
“We showed up and 26 of them were there, smiling and ready to go. I figured we were onto something special,” Ms. Kallal explained.
The photos quickly went viral across the net.
And, in fairness, how could they not? Also, Brett’s siblings Todd Korves and Kayla Bishop used the images to promote their emerging charity, Brett’s First Responders. On the charity’s Facebook page they wrote:
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“Our vision is for Brett’s First Responders to help families of first responders who were not injured in the line of duty and develop a scholarship program for people seeking to become fire fighters. Our brother was very involved in many things and would help any person out at the drop of a hat. We want to carry on his legacy by helping out others in our community.”
Hopefully, Brett’s First Respondents will keep his legacy alive.
The charity has already raised over $800 and has donated thousands of items such as “food, clothes, diapers, laundry detergent, and more to the Crisis Nursery of St. Louis.”
Though she may have not had the chance to meet her father, baby Brett will hopefully be able to take pride in the good being done in honor of her father’s legacy.
h/t: GMA
