ST. LOUIS COUNTY — A former Mehlville High School student was killed in a car crash in south county, but even after his tragic death, he's finding a way to saves the lives of people in Missouri.
Jason Landwehr died last week following a wreck on I-55 near Union Road.
"It just rips you apart, and so that's just really hard to bear, " Landwehr's mom Maureen said.
Inside her south county home on Sunday, loved ones gathered to remember her 20-year-old son. It was a celebration of his life, but also a final goodbye.
"We have had an overwhelming just the feeling of friendship and family just wrapped their arms around us," she said. "Just the finality is hard to grasp."
Landwehr's family told 5 On Your Side he was a young man with an old soul. He had a love for classic cars and old rock. He also found the greatest joy in the outdoors.
"He grabbed life each and every day that he lived," his father Phil Landwehr said.
"He loved to fish. He just loved to survive on his own in nature," Maureen added.
Jason's family said his love of nature led him to the Boy Scouts of America. It eventually earned him the organization's highest rank, becoming an Eagle Scout.
"I'm so lucky that that was my big brother because how much he did," his sister Ally Landwehr said.
Three years ago, Jason's experience as a scout helped him save a life. In 2015, he earned the Red Cross Youth Good Samaritan Award when he stopped a friend from choking at Mehlville High School.
"It was something that he has always been doing his whole life. That was just one time out of many where he saved lives," Maureen said. "He would have given anything for anybody," Jason's girlfriend Maggie Hood added.
Still after his death, Jason continued to help others by being an organ donor. His family has already gotten calls saying he's saved strangers' lives ranging in age from 15 to 64.
"It just took so much pain away. The thought of him saving those lives," Phil said.
Jason was just shy of 21 before his death. Last Tuesday, he was driving home from work when he swerved off the road on Interstate 55 and died.
"It was a sinking feeling. It was a knock that nobody should ever get," Maureen said.
Jason's family members said they're leaning on each another to get through the difficult days ahead. As they remember their loved one, they'll think of him as a young man who not only touched lives but also saved so many.
"His heart will live on in another person and that's just comforting, knowing he's still out there making a difference in the world," Maureen and Ally said.
So far in 2018, only 159 people have donated their organs in the Mid-America Transplant Service Area, which overs eastern Missouri and parts of Arkansas and Illinois. In the St. Louis area, there are 1,300 people waiting for a life-saving transplant.
Visitation will be from 2 to 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 12, at Kutis on Arsenal and Gravois Avenue. Jason's funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13, at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church
