A Son’s Heart Comes Home to Visit

When Christine’s son, James, a navy surgeon, was seriously injured in a helicopter accident, she was told to get to the hospital ASAP if she wanted to see him before he died.  She arrived to find him still breathing, but on life support, and was told he would never wake up.  Knowing how her son wanted to help others, Christine told the hospital they should begin the organ donation process.             

Christine didn’t leave the hospital until all of James’ organs had left the building.  His left kidney and pancreas went to a man in San Diego, his right kidney to a veteran, his liver was headed to the Bay Area, his corneas to the San Diego eye bank, tissues and bones to various tissue and bone banks.  The last remaining organ, his heart, was the one Christine felt the strongest about.  She ran out of the hospital to watch the van drive away with the cooler containing James’ heart.  

When just 18, Mike was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia and began treatment that his doctors warned could cause serious damage to his heart.  He figured the cancer was the more pressing problem.  Fortunately, two years later he was cancer-free. Mike was an avid outdoorsman and when healthy enough, resumed his hiking and bicycling.  After six cancer-free years, he celebrated with a cross-country ride from San Diego to New York.  The entire trip was a struggle, and though he didn’t realize it, his heart was beginning to fail.  The deterioration continued after the trip until chest pains sent him to the hospital.  His heart slowly deteriorated to the point that Mike was placed on the heart transplant list.  Luckily, in short order, a heart was found, and he underwent successful transplant surgery.

In dealing with her grief, Christine wanted to know that James’ organ recipients were doing all right and wrote to each one to tell them what organ donation had meant to her son.  Mike responded in kind, telling her how grateful he was for James’ heart. 

Christine’s letter motivated Mike to find out more about James, and online research revealed that the two of them were remarkably alike.  In rehab following surgery, Mike decided to make another cross-country ride, but this time his destination would be a 1,426-mile, 2-month journey to James’ grave site in Florida.  He wanted to let Christine know that James’ heart was in a safe place and announced his intentions on social media. It took a lot of pre-trip training, and the eventual trip was at times tedious due to necessary precautions. 

Christine faithfully followed his regular social media progress reports. Mike finally rode into the cemetery where Christine was waiting for him.  He dismounted, walked over to her and the two hugged, tears freely flowing.  He then went to the gravesite to silently tell James how thankful he was for his heart and how sorry he was that they’d never be friends. 

 Then someone found a stethoscope and gave it to Christine, who, in an emotional moment, slipped it under Mike’s shirt to hear the robust beating of her son’s heart.