Brendan Nappier

brendan in college

People are often confused on what a hero is. They often turn to Hollywood and see superheroes. In my eyes that’s not what depicts a hero. To me a hero must be strong, brave, athletic, a leader, and most importantly a strong Christian. If you haven’t realized, it’s nearly impossible to find those qualities in anyone. Brendan Nappier showed all of these qualities and many more, Brendan Nappier was a hero……. Brendan Nappier was my hero.

Brendan Nappier was born in December of 1977. He was a miracle child that should never have been born but God had a meaning for his life. He was a cross country and track runner in high school. In college he became an electrical engineer. He did everything anyone could ever imagine in a man, he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, and was known worldwide for his cave diving skills and expeditions. Brendan died on October 16, 2011.

Brendan was my hero for hundreds of reasons but I’ll just name a few for you. Brendan was the reason I started cross country; I never believed I could do it or be good at it, but he was always there working with me, teaching me, and pushing me to be my best. I looked up to Brendan because of his accomplishments as an athlete and recreationist. It was never a dull moment with Brendan; he was always active doing things everyone thought was crazy (for good reason). The best thing about Brendan was that he lived every single aspect of his life for Jesus Christ. He was my mentor and the one I looked up to. I hope I can someday reach the same spiritual level he had with God. Brendan taught us all many things but the one thing he always said was that it is important how you are remembered. In my eyes and many others, he will be remembered as a servant of Jesus Christ. That is exactly what he would want.

I’m putting this on here that hopefully I can spread a little bit of what Brendan did in my life. I love ya Brendan and one day soon I’ll see ya again up in heaven with our Heavenly Father!!! Rest in peace, brother…