Jamie-Lynne Knighten wants the world to know the legacy of Matthew Jackson, a man she barely knew.

Their only encounter was brief, about five minutes in a grocery store on Nov. 10. But what happened in those moments, and the tragedy that followed, put the Carlsbad woman on a quest to honor the 28-year-old whose kindness left a deep impression.

“It is beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time,” she said this week. “We are trying to turn something sad into something really good.”

The late evening trip to Trader Joe’s in Oceanside had been stressful for Knighten, her fussy 5-month-old in tow as she navigated a market she had not been to before. The trip to the register was worse: A $200 tab, her debit card at home, her credit card declined thanks to an anti-fraud lock, and, of course, a crying baby.

Knighten began fumbling for her phone to call the bank, as a long line stretched behind her, when a young man stepped up and asked if he could cover the cost. She first refused, but he asked again. When she looked into his eyes, Knighten said, she realized that he truly wanted to help.

“It just felt like this huge hug, this great big bear hug,” the married mother of two said.

The man said he wanted nothing in return; he simply wanted her to do the same for someone else.

Read the article “Man Dies Day After ‘Pay It Forward’ Good Deed, Inspires Wave of Generosity” on latimes.com.