He turned tragedy into a mission to save lives!

Eight-year-old Brett Saunders was heartbroken when he lost a classmate in a house fire. He didn't want to lose any more friends, so he found a way to help keep them safe by giving away free smoke detectorsEight-year-old Brett Saunders was heartbroken when he lost a classmate in a house fire. He didn't want to lose any more friends, so he found a way to help keep them safe by giving away free smoke detectors

- Bill Holton

“We have some bad news,” Amanda Saunders told her 8-year-old son, Brett, as she and her husband, Nick, settled on the couch beside him one Saturday morning in 2019.

“There was a fire,” Nick began, and Amanda gently explained, “Your friend Michael isn’t with us anymore —he’s in Heaven.”

Brett burst into tears. He and Michael had been friends since kindergarten. They pushed each other on the swings at recess and practiced lines together for the school play.

Devastated, Brett was quiet throughout the weekend.

Monday, at school, there were counselors, and Brett talked to one. But he didn’t share his innermost fear…until days later when he spoke with family friend, Tejay Chilluffo, a firefighter in Brett’s hometown of Herkimer, New York.

“I’m afraid our house will catch fire, and firemen won’t reach us in time,” he sniffled.