Garrett Nicholas, student killed near West Chester University, saves 3 lives through organ donation

Garrett Nicholas, the West Chester University student who was struck and killed by a car earlier this month, has saved three lives through organ donation, according to the Gift of Life Donor Program. 

Through tissue donation, he will help heal up to 100 more, the organization said in a press release Monday. 

A driver hit Nicholas, 21, while he was crossing the street steps from his fraternity house in West Chester on April 12. He died at Paoli Hospital a short time later. 

In an interview with CBS News Philadelphia, Nicholas' mom Traci Conrad Hafner said her son loved life. 

"The kid had the biggest case of FOMO you ever could see, he didn't ever want to miss out on any fun. He was just so happy from the minute he was born, smiling, first day, on my mom's shoulder. I'll never forget his smile," Hafner said.

Now, she wants to raise awareness about organ donation and encourage others to live as selflessly as her son did.

"I had to wheel his body into the OR," she said. "The only thing that gives me comfort there is knowing how many lives his little heart is going to save. Garrett was like when the Grinch's heart grows 10 sizes that day. We loved watching movies together. That was Garrett, the heart too big for his chest, and now he can help all these people."

Nicholas' friends, fraternity brothers and classmates will honor him as part of Team #BeLikeGarrett on Sunday at Gift of Life's annual Donor Dash at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. 

"Garrett, he has to live on," Hafner said. "He's too good of a person. So if that can be his legacy, to be like Garrett and be selfless, that's what I want it to be."