17-Year-Old Completes Bucket List, Dies After Saving Friend's Life

This is heartbreaking.

A 17-year-old recently completed the third and final item on her bucket list. Moments later, she lost her life.

Rebecca Townsend initially wrote the list as part of a class assignment. It had three items: visit Spain, kiss someone in the rain and save a life.

She completed the first two before graduating high school. Sadly, during the summer before she went off to college, the third proved fatal.

The teen, who planned to attend the University of Notre Dame, watched fireworks on July 2 with a friend just before being confronted with the third and final item on her list.

The pair was walking across the street after the fireworks when a car came barreling at them. Townsend pushed her friend Benjamin out of the way to save his life.

She was hit and immediately killed in the process.

According to her friends, Townsend was always a kind, selfless soul; she founded her school's chapter of the nonprofit She's the First, and she often spent her time volunteering.

In a Facebook post, Townsend's cousin Rachel Hofstetter urged those mourning Rebecca's loss to stay positive.

She wrote,

This story could be about loss, but vibrant and happy Rebecca would prefer it to be about love. So, take a moment to hug the person you don't always hug and, then, do it again. And then, say 'I love you' to the person you don't usually tell and, then, say it again. Because we are many, many days over 17, and each day we get a chance to say 'I love you' to the ones we love is a blessing.

Townsend's friends and family will continue to honor her name through charity and small acts of good will, and they are encouraging others to do the same.

It's a tragedy, but in a strange way, it's a comforting one. She did, after all, do all the things she set out to do.

Citations: 17 year old Rebecca Townsend Completed Her Bucket List in the Most Selfless Way By Sacrificing Her Life to Save a Friend (Daily Mail)