Karll was kind and generous.

“He would have happily given you anything, even the shirt off his back. Well… almost anything. He wouldn’t give you his Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. He loved those,” Karla said.

Every day, Karla looked forward to the warm greeting she would receive from Karll, the oldest of her four children, when she would get home from work.

“He would open my car door and reach out his hand and ask me about my day,” Karla said. “He was so considerate and loving.”

Karll loved his “over the top” mother even during embarrassing moments.

“I showed up to his senior prom. I tapped him on the shoulder and said, ‘Can I have this dance?’ and the whole room was like ‘Ooooohhhhh!’ He was kind of mortified, but he said, ‘Of course, Mom,’ and he danced with his mother,” Karla said.

A man of many talents, Karll would listen to classical music and then play it by ear on the piano. He also played guitar, wrote poetry, was “the baddest” basketball player and loved delivering corny jokes.

Karla had a strong bond with Karll, who she considered her rock.

Karla’s little miracle had one of his own. Karll’s son, Ry’Lee, was born in 2013.

“He was a very proud dad. He was conscious about the food Ry’Lee would eat because he said he was going to grow up and be a basketball player. He got him his first pair of little Jordans,” Karla said. “After Ry’Lee was born, Karll got two jobs and wanted to be the best father.”

But that dream was taken away from Karll, and Karla’s world stopped on January 27, 2014.

“Someone tried to rob Karll and then shot and killed him on my front porch,” Karla said.

Karla hated that her son was labeled “Dayton’s fifth homicide of 2014.” But that number came to have significant meaning – 22-year-old Karll saved five lives through organ donation and healed many more through tissue and cornea donation.

“I remember when Karll turned eighteen, we were at the BMV, and a young man behind the desk asked him if he wanted to be an organ donor. After I explained it to him, he said ‘Well, of course,’” Karla said. “That decision is literally going to affect generations.”

Karla misses her son every day, but she finds comfort in knowing that his recipients are living full lives.

Shortly after Karll gave the gift of life, Karla found one of Karll’s poems in his room. In it, he said he would be a “teacher of life on earth and in the afterlife.” His prediction came true and was evident when Karla met Bobby, who received Karll’s heart.

“To think that he’s walking around with my baby’s heart, that my baby’s heart’s still beating, it really does bring peace within,” Karla said. “Karll’s heart is where it was destined to be, and it is in the man I believe Karll would have grown to be. If that isn’t a blessing and what it’s all about, then I don’t know what is.”

In 2014, Karla organized a block party to educate her neighbors about the importance of organ, eye and tissue donation. She is on a mission – especially in communities of color – to spread the word through volunteering for Life Connection of Ohio.

“Everyone in the hood has a Donate Life wristband, and they all registered because of Karll,” Karla said.

Ry’Lee also sports his Donate Life wristband, and he knows that his father is a hero.

“We tell him we don’t need no Spiderman or Batman because we have Karll. Ry’Lee says ‘My daddy saved lives,’” Karla said.

Karla encourages everyone to register as organ, eye and tissue donors.

“The benefits and the blessings of organ donation… It’s mind-blowing. I can’t get over what a light organ donation is,” Karla said. “If someone doesn’t want to donate, I want them to take a seat and let me tell them about a young man that became a superhero for giving a selfless gift.”

Karla beams with pride for her son.

“He made great things happen when he was here, and because of him, even greater things are happening and will continue to happen. Karll wasn’t meant to be here in the physical sense for forever, and this is his legacy,” Karla said.

“I hope he’s in a bathtub full of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups up there.”