Mother remembers firefighter killed in crash: 'He was my hero'

NORTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — The family of a firefighter killed in a crash says the state of Georgia lost a true hero.

Jacob Hammond, 21, lost control of his motorcycle Thursday on Bannister Road in Cumming. He died at the scene.

Hammond joined the Sandy Springs fire department when he was 18.

“When he finished school, he came home about two weeks after he graduated and said, ‘I’m going to the fire academy,’” Hammond’s mother, Lynn, said.

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Lynn Hammond said losing her son has been unbearable.

“I don’t know how to move forward yet. I’m taking it one day at a time,” she said.

Family members held a viewing for Jacob Hammond on Saturday.

The flag outside Sandy Springs Fire Station 2 is at half-staff and Jacob’s team saved a seat for him on the truck he would have been in Saturday night.

“I can’t describe him in one word. He was great kid. He was my hero,” Lynn Hammond said. “He was a true American. He loved America. He loved his country.”

Jacob Hammond’s funeral will be held Monday in Cumming.

Cox Media Group