Nurse Dies Searching for Man Stranded in Helene Floodwaters ArticlePure

• Boone McCrary was looking for a stranded man in the Tennessee floodwaters when he died after the boat that he, his girlfriend and his dog were in capsized on Sept. 27
• The man whom McCrary tried to save, Daniel Boutin, later called him “my guardian angel”
• “If [help is] needed, Boone would do it,” his sister tells PEOPLE

Tennessee nurse Boone McCrary is being remembered as a “guardian angel” after he died while trying to help a stranded man in the floodwaters from Hurricane Helene.

“If it’s needed, Boone would do it,” his sister, Laura McCrary Harville, tells PEOPLE.

According to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), McCrary, 32, was found on Tuesday, Oct. 1, by a search team in a creek in Greeneville, Tenn., local TV stations WJHL,WATE and WBIR reported. 

McCrary, his girlfriend and his dog, a chocolate lab named Moss, had reportedly set out in a fishing boat in the Nolichucky River on Sept. 27, a day after Helene made landfall. They were looking for a man who had been swept away amid the flooding caused by the storm as it moved north.

“He originally was going to go down to Newport [in Tennessee] and help people,” says Harville, McCrary’s sister.

“I don’t know exactly how it came about for him with this person … he had been stuck on the roof of his home during the flooding,” Harville says. “Boone saw the need and he went out.”

But his group ran into trouble on their boat: While they were searching, the water’s heavy debris caused the boat’s motor to jam, prompting the vessel to hit a bridge support and capsize, according to the Associated Press,

All three occupants were sent into the water, WJHL reported.

McCrary’s girlfriend was rescued — but he and Moss died. Responders located the boat and the dog on Sept. 29 and eventually found McCrary’s body on Tuesday.

David Boutin, the man whom McCrary was looking for, managed to cling to tree branches for six hours and was later rescued by other responders.

Boutin told the AP that the storm had pulled him from his home, adding that his dog and “best friend,” Buddy, went missing during the ordeal.

“I’ve never had anyone risk their life for me,” Boutin said of McCrary. “From what I hear, that was the way he always been.”

McCrary, of Greenville, was a registered nurse who worked for Greeneville Community Hospital, according to a published obituary — which added that he was “a member of the Greene County Coon Club, TN Bear Hunters Association, and an honorary member of the Camp Creek VFD for his bravery during the flood and other times of need.”

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“He lived life to the fullest,” his sister says. “He didn’t take one moment for granted.”

She remembers getting phone calls from people on the morning of Sept. 27, when her brother was lost to the water, about what happened to the boat. “I immediately went to that particular bridge and started walking and searching,” she says. “And then Saturday morning is when I started putting out posts on Facebook asking for help.”

Harville says that McCrary’s girlfriend, who was on the boat too, is fine but traumatized by the ordeal.

In a statement, Ballad Health, with which Greenville Community Hospital is affiliated, described McCrary as a “beloved nurse” and “the ultimate caregiver who was kind and compassionate with a larger-than-life personality.”

“This is an incredibly painful moment for all of us, and our hearts go out to Boone’s family, friends and colleagues at Greeneville Community Hospital, as well as everyone who is suffering during this time of profound loss,” the company’s statement read in part.

“The past few days, we have heard our team share stories of how he sang to team members and patients to lighten the mood and that he loved music and his beloved chocolate lab, Moss, who was always with him,” the statement continued. 

Funeral services for McCrary were held on Sunday, Oct. 6. In addition to his sister, Harville, he is survived by his parents, step-parents and many other relatives, per his obituary.

Boutin, the man McCrary was trying to save, was also present at the funeral, Harville says.

“It was a great moment after the service and the burial for me to be able to just to give him [David] the biggest hug,” she says.

Harville adds that her family is working on establishing a nonprofit organization to be called Boone’s Brigade in which experienced sportsmen will mentor inexperienced hunters,

They are also discussing creating a scholarship for those interested in outdoor conservation and transforming her brother’s home into a lodge where hunters could stay.

“That,” she says, ‘would be Boone’s legacy.”

To learn more about how to help with relief, recovery and rebuilding efforts from Hurricane Helene, click here.