Brittany Atira Hahn

She followed her own mantra, and she lived her life according to her own code.

 

When I think of Brittany, I think of her and her animals. She was happiest when she was with her animals, playing with them and teaching them tricks. First in her life and her code were animals. She loved them.

 

When she was in Vet School, she was tending to a dog and it bit her, causing her severe facial wounds. When she told me, I asked if the school was at fault for letting her treat an animal without wearing a mask and if the animal should be put down because it was dangerous. She was displeased by my comment, as she stated that no animal should be put down and what happened was just an accident.

 

Brittany was truly happy when she was around animals. From high school on, that environment was what she wanted. She took care of seals and mammals, spent two months in South Africa tagging and observing Great White Sharks, worked with horses, and always was taking care of dogs and cats.

 

The last time Leah and I saw Brittany before she was hospitalized was in February, when she was in New York State. We saw her in her room, and of course her two dogs Maverick and Mati and her cat Oliver was with her. They all slept on her bed and were always with her. 

 

She was always trying to do what she could to take care of animals. Once, we were talking and I asked if there was a fire, and she could only save either her horse or me, what would she do. Without even a second of hesitation, she told me I could determine how to save myself. Without further word by her, it was clear that in an emergency she would always look to see what animals she could help.

 

Brittany was a loving person and daughter. She and I always told each other that we loved each other. She once for Father’s Day made a book for me with pictures of the two of us in which she told me she loved me and appreciated what I had done for her. I treasure that book and the beautiful thoughts she expressed in it.

 

She loved her family and friends. She was loyal to them and in the last few years when she lived in New York and lived far from many of them, she loved seeing on FaceBook keeping up on their activities and what they were doing.

 

Brittany had a difficult life. She had many illnesses, and she fought valiantly against them but it just seemed as if the deck was stacked against her. She spent so many days going from one doctor to another and staying in hospitals. Yet, even with those problems her first thoughts were for her animals. When she was in a hospital she would always make sure her animals were taken care of.

 

In the last few years, it became harder and harder for Brittany to live without pain and to just get around. She thus trained her dog Maverick to be a service dog, and the two of them were inseparable, as was Brittany and her dog Mati. When Mati developed cancer, Brittany even started a “Fund Me” campaign to get funds to help Mati’s treatment. That act was so typical of her: doing all in her power to help her animals.

 

Brittany loved Taylor Swift. She even asked me to buy her sneakers that reminded of her of Taylor Swift. She loved to watch her documentaries and concerts on TV. We talked about her going to a concert, and I wish so much she could have lived longer to do so.

 

Brittany enjoyed reading very much. She loved the Harry Potter books. When each one came out and we bought it, she would plead with me to be the first one to read it. She would then literally do nothing else but read it until she had finished it.

 

All of us who knew her were aware of the great pain she was in on literally a daily basis for the last years of her life. Yet, through it all, her love for her animals never wavered. She was happiest when she was with them.

 

This is a very difficult occasion for me. My overwhelming feeling is sadness. Brittany had just 3 days before her death turned 36 and her life was just too, too short. My thought literally every day is about how unfair it is that she lived such a short time and it is even sadder that during that time she suffered so much due to illness.

 

When my brother died at a relatively early age, I saw first-hand how devastated my parents were. It is s o tough t o bury a child. Yet, in s o m e way I a m relieved that Brittany is no longer in pain. She went through so many difficult days in the last years, and at least her suffering is over.

 

It is so difficult to sum up a person’s life. It is equally difficult to rationalize and make sense of the death of one so young as Brittany. However, I myself am comforted in a small way by the words a friend of hers sent to me when that friend learned of Brittany’s death. She wrote to me: “She [that is, Brittany] was a special young woman, she made an impact on many people. She was loved, and she will be missed. I hope she’s up there hanging out with some pets and feeling no more pain.”