MIDDLEBURG, Pa. — "He was not just my little brother. He was my best friend, and I'm going to love him and miss him forever," said Kailey Gipson, Hayden Gipson's sister.
Early Monday morning saw the Gipson family change forever after they say 16-year-old Hayden Gipson of Penns Creek was killed in a head-on collision just a short distance from home.
"I'm just at a loss of words about what happened," said Beth Gipson, Hayden Gipson's mother.
"The state troopers were here when I got the news, and I just couldn't, it didn't, there was no way that it could've been true," said Josh Gipson, Hayden Gipson's father.
Hayden's father, Josh Gipson, says it all happened right after Hayden left for school that morning.
Police told him once Hayden got onto Route 104, it was less than a mile away that the boy drove head-on into a tractor-trailer at the corner of Troxelville Road.
"He made it down the road, and it was so foggy that his windshield had fogged, and he never saw the truck coming, and he hit it head-on," said Josh.
Following the crash, which is still under investigation by state police, numerous social media posts from friends and even Hayden's school district have flooded the Gipsons' home.
"There was a few friends that messaged me and said he went above and beyond, and I had no idea how much of an impact he actually had on people," said Josh.
"Hayden tried his best to be my actual brother, and that's a lot of credit to how Beth and Josh raised him," said Donovan Henning, Hayden Gipson's brother-in-law.
Along with these messages, the family says it's the countless stories they have that will keep Hayden's memory alive forever.
A fund has been set up to help the family with funeral expenses; to learn more, click here.
They are also having a candlelight vigil at Midd West High School for Hayden Wednesday night at 7 p.m.