VIDEO: Family Hears Their Son’s Heartbeat in Another Man’s Chest

VIDEO: Family Hears Their Son’s Heartbeat in Another Man’s Chest

No parent ever wants to hear that their child is brain dead. That was the news that the Heisler family got though, when their son Matt was in a house fire — but because Matt was an organ donor, eight months later, they were able to listen to his heart beating in another man’s chest.

tom meeks

Throughout life, we all wait for something or someone. Tom Meeks spent three years waiting for a heart transplant. Back in April of 2011, the Vietnam Veteran was diagnosed with a rare heart disease called amyloidosis. Doctors said he wouldn’t survive without a transplant

But before Meeks, who lives in Washington State, was put on a waiting list for a transplant, he was rejected five times by different hospitals. As he waited and held out hope, his liver was malfunctioning.

Meeks was led to the Mayo Clinic. Meeks said doctors didn’t make any promises but told him they would run the test to see if he was eligible to be placed on a waiting list.

Turns out, he met five of the six requirements.

In November of 2014, Meeks and his wife, Ann, packed their bags and moved to Rochester where they would wait for the call.

That call came in March. His wait was finally over.

And while Meeks and his wife got the call they hoped for, the Heisler family got a call no family wants. It was Sunday. The call came at 4 a.m.

“I was sitting on the steps and I heard my dad say, ‘Are you sure it’s Matt?'” Casey Heisler said. “I thought I was dreaming.”

Matthew Heisler, 21, a student at the University of North Dakota, had been involved in a house fire. His friend and roommate, Ryan Nelson, pulled Matthew Heisler from the burning home and performed CPR until help arrived.

Doctors say Matthew Heisler’s heart stopped beating twice. And soon after, there was no brain activity.

Turns out, Matthew Heisler signed up to be organ donor when he was 16 years old. After renewing his driver’s license, Matthew Heisler asked his father, Jared, what he had done by “checking the organ donor box.”

“He made the decision that if life ever slipped away from him, he would give life to someone else,” Jared Heisler said.

And that decision was no small feat. Tom, who waited nearly three years for a lifeline now lives with Matthew’s heart.

Eight month’s after Matthew’s death, his parents and younger sister, Casey, listened to Matt’s heart beat inside of Tom’s chest.

“This is awesome,” Jared Heisler said after he listened.

Matt didn’t just donate his heart. His generosity helped 60 people.

There’s nothing that can take away the tragedy of losing a child. But knowing that their loss has given another person the gift of life can at least turn the tragic into the bittersweet.

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