The TV anchor boyfriend of the late broadcast journalist Alison Parker, who was slain Aug. 26 on live TV alongside her cameraman, has vowed to honor her memory by covering issues of gun violence and mental illness.
"I pledged to her father," Chris Hurst, the 28-year-old evening anchor at WDBJ, tells PEOPLE. "Her father wants me to help him do whatever it takes to make sure not one more family has to go through this kind of unspeakable violence."
"If that means talking about gun reform to reduce gun violence, or if that means talking about increasing access to mental health care and trying to figure out [how] those who have an illness get the care they need," he says, "we will do whatever it takes."
"I have been reporting on mental health issues before this shooting. I have mental health issues in my family and it's important to me," Hurst says.
"If we get them in an interview situation and they dodge a question, we need to redirect," he says. "It's going to happen by changing laws, by changing policies and by slowly changing minds."
Alison and Chris used to talk about the word closure. But with Alison, "there will never be an end," he says. "We are able to turn a page and make her feel she can be proud of us as we move on without her."
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