Rochester, Minn. — A family who lost their 21-year-old son in a house fire got to hear his heart beating in the chest of a veteran who waited nearly three years for a transplant.
In 2001, Tom Meeks was diagnosed with a rare heart condition called amyloidosis and was told he would die unless he had a transplant. He waited nearly three years for the procedure.
Matthew Heisler, who died in the fire, had signed up to be an organ donor when he was 16, and Meeks was chosen to receive his heart.
Eight months after Heisler died, his mother, father and sister met with Meeks and listened to Matthew’s heart beating in his chest.
