"She was always there for me."
If you talk to Chelsea Hacker's closest family members and friends, that's what they'll tell you.
"She was just there all the time," Hacker's grandparents, Doreen and Mykola Andrejczuk said. "She was just a great person."
On Monday night, Hacker picked up dinner and was driving back home to be with her boyfriend, Thomas Sell. The two were dating for nine months, but discussed a lifetime together.
Hacker was driving northbound on the Twin Cities Memorial Highway when she was struck from behind by another vehicle, according to City of Tonawanda Police.
The driver of the other vehicle, a 55-year-old man, was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to police. Hacker died from the injuries she suffered.
The crash remains under investigation.
"The floor fell from my feet," said Doreen, describing the call she received Monday night from Sell, who went to the crash site. "It was the worst day of my life. Now it will be the worst Mother's Day of my life."
Police and family members are asking anyone who witnessed the crash to call police at 716-692-2121.
"You don't understand what could happen to someone," Sell described. "Chelsea is just truly a great person, always caring, wanted to take care of anyone that surrounded her, especially her grandparents."
"I don't care about anything anymore. I want her here," said Doreen.
Hacker was a nurse at Buffalo General. She also loved dogs. Her German Shepherd Gage has noticed something is wrong.
The family has established The Chelsea Hacker Memorial Fund, and they hope to raise money to name a hospital wing in her memory. They also said people can make donations to the SPCA Serving Erie County in Hacker's memory, because of her love for animals.
"I just expect to see her walking, and I think if I go to sleep, I'll wake up and it's 'Wow, one hell of a nightmare I had,'" Doreen said.
