By: Peyton Lawson

A little over a month ago, Heritage lost a beautiful smile, friend, and student. Hannah Viall will be remember by her kind spirit and love of giving hugs. On behalf of the Herald staff, I have collected several memories from Hannah’s friends and family.

“Since the day Hannah was born she had a smile that would light up a room when she entered. She never failed to put a smile on other people’s faces and she never was anything but nice. Of course like most people she had her ups and downs but she was that girl who even when she was down she still could think of something that made her happy. Hannah was the most determined sister I have ever met. Hannah always strived to turn her work in on time and would spend hours a night studying, yet managed to have an amazing social life, and still show how much she loves her family. Hannah was very passionate about cheer and had been on the high school cheer team and an all star cheer team, until she had a mental block and was unable to tumble, but that did not stop her. She signed up for tumble classes and was so determined to get her tumbling skills back, and she did. Hannah always was a goofball and she did this to make those around her happy and to put a smile on their faces. Every time you would walk through the hall those who were working with Hannah would be laughing and smiling and that made everyone else do the same. Hannah had many friends and a matter of fact everyone was her “best friend.” It doesn’t matter if she met the person that day she considered them her best friend. Hannah knew how to treat her friends with respect and knew how to be there when they needed her most. One thing I will never forget is how much Hannah loved taking pictures and videos. Every-time we were in the car Hannah would take a video of me and her singing on her phone or she would take a picture. It didn’t matter how bad we both looked she still would take a picture and look more beautiful than ever. Many people who knew Hannah had great memories to be left with and will never forget those memories. Those memories of her laughing at nothing, dancing like a fool, and doing stupid things to be laughed at and to make others laugh. Hannah will be very much missed but we all need to know that Hannah left this community with a positive impact and is watching over us. We all want to know why but we never will, what we do know is that she fulfilled her purpose on this earth and was needed in a better place. I love Hannah, we all love Hannah and we will all never stop loving Hannah. We need to spread the positivity that Hannah spread and give a hug a day which is what Hannah did in honor of her. Hannah will never stop watching over us and looking down on us.  She is always here with us and that is such a good feeling. “
–Haley Viall (sister)

“Hannah had been my friend for 16 great years. We lived across the street from each other, and I saw her almost everyday. She was my first friend, and was my only friend for awhile. I am glad I got to share share so many great days with her. I remember when we were young, on rainy days we would have the Viall girls come over and we’d have a play-doh party. She was often remembered as one of the most fun and happy people to friends and family. Whenever I saw her in the hallways, she was always surrounded by an entourage of friends. My funniest memory with her, is when we used to carpool in the morning. Her and her sister, Haley, would always bring bowls of this stuff called livermush (I know, it even sounds gross!). My mom would drop us off at school, and would leave the bowls in the car! My mom would have to drive back home with bowls of eaten liver-mush in her car! I always remember that when I feel sad. The Thursday after the accident, I went to Hannah’s vigil. I looked around, and saw all these people there for her. It made me feel glad that so many people were there for her and the family, and that she would never be forgotten. A few days later, when I was ready, my family and I looked through my mom’s old pictures, where there were tons of pictures of us and the Vialls. While looking those pictures of her, I noticed that she always had the biggest smile out of everybody, regardless of who was in it. This made me realize something. Hannah was nice to people regardless of how they were to her, and was always smiling. This has inspired me to try to become like her in some way, by not judging others and having a good and happy attitude about everything and everyone. If there was one thing I could hope everyone could gain from this tragedy, is that everybody could be just a little bit more like her. Just a little bit. Imagine how Hannah’s kindness that is passed on could impact someone’s life. I also hope that by doing this, we could always keep a small part of Hannah alive in us for the rest of our lives”

–Owen Bergquist (friend)

“Hannah was one of the most outgoing people I’ve ever met. She could find a random stranger and will have a need to be best friends with them. Well I mean she was best friends with everybody because she was just a loving person! The first time I met her in person was at a cheer workout, the last one before tryouts, and her smile shined a spotlight towards me. It let me know how friendly she was. Hannah made me laugh in the first minute I talked to her, and our friendship was made which would last a lifetime. Over the months/ year and a half I have been best friends with her, she would do anything to make you smile. She would dance in such a stupid way that you start to burst out laughing, if you were having a bad day, she would find a way to make you smile. Every single thing she did, was most likely to light up a room with joy. That’s just how she was. ”

–Gabby Walread (friend)

Hannah Viall will be missed. She enjoyed giving a “hug a day” and participating in random acts of kindness. We could all learn something from her. Fly high Hannah and happy sweet sixteenth birthday. #hugaday #livelikehannah