Christmas is the time for giving, and one woman in the United States likely received one of the best Christmas gift of all.

Lauren Westmoreland recently posted on popular social media app TikTok an extremely touching tribute to her boyfriend Riley Howell.

The video, which has since gone hugely viral, garnering over 972,000 likes, might probably end with you shedding a silent tear.

Died after charging and tackling gunman

In the brief video, Westmoreland revealed that she and Howell had been together for almost six years since they met at 16 in sophomore year in high school.

She said they had "planned to spend the rest of [their] lives together".

Tragically, Howell died in a school shooting on Apr. 30 earlier this year.

The 21-year-old was a student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte when a gunman opened fire in a classroom.

Howell, who charged towards and tackled the gunman instead of fleeing, was subsequently hailed a hero for helping to prevent any further casualties.

The young man had suffered three shots—two to the torso and one at point blank range to the head—before dying, reported The New York Times.

Police stated that apparently no one else was shot after the gunman was body-slammed by Howell. Prior to this, another 19-year-old student had already been killed and four others wounded.

Huge Star Wars fan

Howell had apparently been a huge fan of the Star Wars franchise. NYT reported that the man had amassed a collection of Jedi action figures since young.

A photo his girlfriend, Westmoreland, shared in her video showed Howell as a young boy wielding a lightsabre.

In May, Westmoreland and Howell's family got a pleasant surprise when they received a letter from Lucasfilm. The studio had apparently caught wind of Howell's story and his love of Star Wars.

They expressed their condolences, and tipped his family off that they planned to honour Howell and his name in a forthcoming book, titled Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - A Visual Dictionary.

"Riley’s courage and selflessness brings out the Jedi in all of us. We hope that you may rejoice in his memory, and we join you in honoring his life and example."

Westmoreland said in her video that when they received the letter, "it seemed too good to be true".

Re-imagined as Jedi Ri-Lee Howell

Lucasfilm certainly kept their promise though, as Howell was immortalised and re-imagined as a Star Wars character, Jedi master and historian Ri-Lee Howell.

The book has since been released to coincide with the screening of the movie of the same name.

Here's what the fandom wiki says about the character.

In the video, Westmoreland thanked Lucasfilm for giving her boyfriend the best Christmas gift this year and making him a part of the Star Wars universe forever.

"He would have been absolutely over the moon," she told the Charlotte Observer.

Howell's entire family went to see the final Star Wars movie on the opening night, even bringing along his ashes and leaving a seat open for him.

"I think he would have liked the way it ended," Howell's mother, Natalie Henry-Howell added.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6ZSblSjxRU/

Cries, time to wipe away your tears.

You can watch Westmoreland's heartwarming video tribute here.

Riley Howell, a huge Star Wars fan and the man who tackled a shooter at UNCC (saving all but one life and his own) joined the Star Wars universe under the name Ri-Lee Howell featured in an upcoming book as a Jedi master and historian https://t.co/dJOhRjDoM5

— Kayla (@kaylacockrel) December 23, 2019

Top photo from @laaaaaaalaland / TikTok