Every so often you hear a story that you just can’t shake.

It gives you tingles. It follows you around. Somehow, you know it will stay with you forever.

The short, but full, life and tragic death of Marina Keegan is one of those stories. A story of promise that ends in catastrophe, indelible loss and forgiveness.

This is her story.

Marina Keegan was considered a literary prodigy at 22. Image via Facebook.

At just 22, Marina was considered a literary prodigy. She was a published writer and a play she’d authored was set to be produced at the New York Fringe Festival. She had a much sought after staff job at The New Yorker waiting for her.

In May 2012, she graduated with high honours from Yale University. The world was her oyster.

Five days later, she died in a car crash on the way to her boyfriend’s father’s 55

th

birthday.

The car hit a guardrail and rolled over twice.

She tragically died five days after graduation. Image via Facebook.

Her boyfriend, who had fallen asleep at the wheel – but was not drunk or on drugs – was uninjured in the crash that took Marina’s life.

Marina’s mother, Tracey Keegan, found Marina’s smashed laptop in the wreckage. Her writing was extracted from its hard drive and was posthumously made into a book, which quickly become a bestseller.

In a show of grace and humanity, Marina’s parents immediately forgave her boyfriend, the New York Times reported.

They pleaded that he not be criminally charged over the incident – a circumstance they said that would have broken their daughter’s heart.

Marina Keegan’s works were published posthumously. Image via Facebook.

Marina’s final essay (and her book’s namesake) ‘The Opposite of Loneliness’ was published the day after her death and quickly went viral.

Here are the highlights:

Her youthful reflection on life after university is made all the more poignant by the tragedy of her untimely death.

It’s yet another wretched reminder for the rest of us to live life to the full.

Read Marina’s final essay in full here .