Brandon Peterson Southmoreland: Regardless of who is discussing him, one thing is clear about Brandon Peterson — he realized how to light up anybody’s day.

“When he’d stroll into a room, he put a grin all over,” said Mason Neiderhiser, 16, of Mt. Lovely. “He was quite a hero.”

Peterson, 18, of Scottdale, was killed when a heavy transport struck him and his crippled pickup truck Tuesday evening along the southward paths of Route 119 in East Huntingdon, as indicated by police. Dan Boring, athletic chief at Southmoreland High School, trained Peterson in wrestling, one of four games in which the 2020 alumni took an interest.

“He carried an alternate sort of energy to the room,” Boring said. “He was an incredible individual to be near.”

Neiderhiser’s mom, Rachel, said Peterson consistently realized how to make others grin.

“I would see him at Walmart and he would walk straight up to us and put his arm around you and ask how you were,” she said. “In the event that the young men weren’t with us, he’d ask how they were.”

Colt Harper, 18, of Everson had known Peterson since they were in grade school.

“He was only perhaps the best individual you could associate with,” Harper said. “He generally had a grin all over and he was continually pushing me to be a superior individual.”

Harper said he never has seen somebody contact an entire network the manner in which Peterson did.

“He was my closest companion,” Harper said. “He improved me. Presently I need to carry on with life in a superior way for him.”

Peterson’s mom, Sheila, presented a message on her child on his Facebook page Wednesday morning.

“My most noticeably terrible bad dream occurred and nothing could hurt me as much as not seeing you descend the steps and state, ‘Greetings, Mom,’ “ she composed.

Police said Peterson’s Dodge Ram 2500 got debilitated about 3:45 p.m. Tuesday. He halted the truck on the correct shoulder close to the Route 819 exchange, where the accident happened.

The roadway was shut for around five hours. Police said the 31-year-old heavy transport driver, from North Carolina, was not harmed.