Brandon Grimes, a 26-year-old British football referee, has been named by his family as the man killed in a hit and run in Florida on Friday, September 25. His family and partner have launched an appeal to bring his body home to County Durham.
Family tribute to 'cherished boy'
In a statement, his family said: "It is with a broken heart that we share the passing of our beloved, beautiful, cherished boy Brandon. He was tragically taken from us on the 25th of September at the age of only 26. Brandon is deeply loved by us all and will be missed beyond words, and our lives will never be the same without him. Brandon was a gentle, bright, funny, and wonderful soul who brought so much light, love, and joy to everyone who knew him, he truly was the life and soul of the party."
The family added: "Our family is completely devastated, and the pain of losing him this way is something no family should ever have to bear. Our lives have been shattered, and we are completely lost without him."
Partner seeks answers
Brandon was on holiday in America when the incident occurred. His partner, David Jackson, 41, said: "We have a lot more questions than we do answers at the moment, we don't fully know what happened, or why, it just doesn't make any sense. We are trying to get all of the information and get justice for him, while his entire family are grieving at the same time."
He added: "Looking back, it was clear that something wasn't right, he was trying to ring me and his friend Tom who he was there with, and I got back just 15 minutes later, but I have since found out that he was already gone by then. We are all absolutely devastated, and the most frustrating part is that we don't know the whole story."
Fundraising for repatriation
David described Brandon as "a referee for the FA, and he loved football, Liverpool FC and England especially." He said they had been together since February and "were making a lot of plans, and the future we were talking about won't happen now."
He continued: "He has a huge family who have all been destroyed by this, with loads of siblings, and he loved them, his nieces, nana and grandad, and mam and step-dad so much. We are desperate to bring him back, and we are trying to find an international funeral director to help, but the lack of communication we have had from American makes this very difficult."
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help pay for Brandon's return home, which had raised £9,215 at the time of writing. The page has a £16,000 fundraising target, which David says is a rough estimate of the cost, with any further money going towards his funeral.
He added: "The financial costs of bringing someone home can be overwhelming, and we want to ensure our Brandon gets the journey home he deserves. If you are in a position to donate, no matter how small, we are endlessly grateful, and if you can't donate, simply sharing this page, keeping Brandon in your thoughts, and helping us fight for him means more to us than words can say."
