Rebecca Townsend, a teenager from Conneticut who was preparing to attend college at Notre Dame in the fall, was struck and killed by a car when she saved her friend's life, completing a "bucket list" she wrote for a high school assignment.
Her goals were:
• "Kiss in the rain"
• "Fly to Spain"
• "Save a life (not really scary though)"
The goals were part of a school assignment and she already completed the first two, with a trip to Spain with her parents and sharing a rainy kiss with her boyfriend, Niko, according to The Independent.
Townsend, 17, completed her final goal when she pushed 17-year-old Benjamin Arne out of the way as a car sped toward them after a fireworks display around 9 p.m. July 2 in Danbury, according to the Daily Mail.
The teen excelled in high school, starting a local chapter of a charity called She's the First, which sponsors education for girls in third world countries to help them become the first in their families to graduate from secondary school.
Arne, who survived the collision, credited her for saving his life.
"He said, 'The last thing I remember is Rebecca pushing me [out of the way of the car] and telling me to hurry up,'" Townsend's sister Victoria said after visiting him in hospital.
The teen's story has gone viral, starting a #RememberingRebecca hashtag. An associated Facebook page was started with more than 21,000 likes, while nearly 2,600 people have started to follow a similar Instagram account, according to the New York Daily News.
Several people have even posted photos of themselves doing good deeds, such as giving a McDonald's server an extra tip.
