Hamilton teen killed in hit and run remembered by brother as 'the best of every part' of their family
CBC
For Shirwa Geele, it's difficult describing his brother Yaqoub Saeed in just a few words.
"He was so many different things to different people," he said.
To Geele, his younger brother was caring, bright, inquisitive, funny, and much more. "I feel like he was the best of every part of my family. He took all the good and developed to who he was was before he passed."
Saeed had just turned 15 the day before he was killed in a hit and run on Jan. 11, as he was leaving St. Thomas More Secondary School in Hamilton.
Saeed would walk to and from school every day as his home was only two blocks away, Geele said.
He had transferred to the school three months before the day he was hit by a vehicle driven by a fellow student, also 15 years old.
Geele, 26, remembers being at work in the Niagara region that day, when he got the call from one of his brothers saying Saeed was hit.
The family is made up of seven brothers — some of whom still live at home with their parents, others in nearby cities. Geele was among those who was able to get to the hospital in Hamilton that same day.
Once there, Geele said time moved "so fast" but was also "so still."
He said he knew his brother hadn't made it as soon as he saw the doctor's "somber look."
"I was so shocked. I couldn't process what was happening," he said.
He remembers his mother's crying immediately after hearing the news, while he tried to console her, and the dreaded moments when relatives started arriving at the hospital.
"It's hard to hear it one time … but having to constantly re-tell people a tragedy becomes harder each time we're saying it because it gets more real."
Geele remembers the last time he saw him. Saeed had made plans to go to the movies with friends on the day of his birthday Jan. 10, but his family held a celebration for him at home the Saturday before.
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