MY SON DIED SAVING HIS 5-YEAR-OLD SISTER WITH A TRANSPLANT. ON HER 18TH BIRTHDAY, A CARD ARRIVED: “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LITTLE SISTER. I PROMISED I’D BE HERE.”
THEN THE DOORBELL RANG — AND A STRANGER SAID HE’D BEEN CARRYING MY SON’S HEART FOR EIGHTEEN YEARS.
Chapter 1: The Card With Her Photo Inside
My son became an organ donor to save my 5-year-old daughter and died — on her 18th birthday, she received a card that said, “Happy birthday, little sister.”
My name is Grace. My son Luke was eighteen when his five-year-old sister Hannah needed a liver transplant. I was ruled out as a donor. Luke was a perfect match. “She’s my little sister, Mom,” he said. “How could I live with myself if I didn’t do everything I could?”
The surgery saved Hannah. But a one-in-a-million complication took Luke. I buried my firstborn and raised Hannah alone, telling her stories about her hero brother.
