The sister of a young man who died in the New Orleans attack has revealed his heart-wrenching final text. Hubert Gauthreaux, 21, wrote only three hours before the tragedy, as reported by New York Post, “Happy New Year. I love you.”
Gauthreaux had traveled from the nearby town of Marrero to ring in the new year in the New Orleans French Quarter. He was among at least 13 people who died when suspected terrorist Shamsud-Din Jabbar plowed a pickup truck bearing an ISIS flag into New Year’s Eve revelers on Bourbon Street. Jabbar was later killed in a shootout with cops.
‘You deserved so much better than this’
Hubert Gauthreaux’s sister, Brooke Gauthreaux, remembered him in a heartbreaking Facebook post. “I woke up yesterday and a piece of me was gone,” she wrote. “My sweet, selfless baby brother. You deserved so much better than this. I don’t know how I’m supposed to go on without you. Without expecting a random phone call from you just to talk for an hour while you’re driving home, for advice, for you to vent or to get your little shit ass out of trouble.”
She added, “Without asking you for a favor and you dropping everything to help me or coming all the way to and from Lafayette to pick me up or drop me off. I was looking forward to that 2 and a half hour drive you were gonna take me on tomorrow to get me back home. You are so loved by everyone you’ve touched in this world. I’m so proud to be your big sister. I’d do anything to go back and be in the bleachers supporting you on the baseball diamond. Back to complaining about driving you and your friends everywhere, but doing it every single time anyway. Nothing feels real anymore. Part of me is just expecting for you to walk through the door with that slick little grin and give me a hug. I miss you so so much already.”
{{/usCountry}}She added, “Without asking you for a favor and you dropping everything to help me or coming all the way to and from Lafayette to pick me up or drop me off. I was looking forward to that 2 and a half hour drive you were gonna take me on tomorrow to get me back home. You are so loved by everyone you’ve touched in this world. I’m so proud to be your big sister. I’d do anything to go back and be in the bleachers supporting you on the baseball diamond. Back to complaining about driving you and your friends everywhere, but doing it every single time anyway. Nothing feels real anymore. Part of me is just expecting for you to walk through the door with that slick little grin and give me a hug. I miss you so so much already.”
{{/usCountry}}Bourbon Street was shut down for 36 hours after the tragedy, but when it reopened, mourners started placing flowers, crosses, and mementos at a spot near the scene of the rampage. Among them was the Gauthreaux family, walking to the memorial arm-in-arm alongside a police escort. Brooke said in a statement, according to New York Post, “He was a light in our lives. He was someone who gave generously and brought joy to everyone he knew, and he had so much more life left to live.”