In the summer of 2003, two teenage boys fell gravely ill hundreds of miles apart. One suffered a brain haemorrhage, while the other caught a virus that attacked his heart. Though they did not know each other, their fates became intertwined when the first boy died and his organs were donated, saving four lives.
The donor's mother gave permission immediately after being told her son was brain dead. She later reflected: 'He was young, there was no part of his body damaged in any way other than his brain. Even then, I could see it would have been sacrilege to have lost all of those healthy young organs and bury them with him.'
The donor's father, racing home from an RAF exercise in Nevada, realised halfway through his 19-hour journey that he would be asked to authorise turning off life support. He said: 'I knew I had lost my son. I wanted to make somebody's life better. I knew my life was not going to be better.' He later asked a journalist: 'If your son needed a heart, wouldn't you want him to have one? Then why would you deny that chance to another father and another dying son?'
Through a series of coincidences, the recipients were traced. One man received the teenager's liver, surviving a rare condition causing skin to blister in sunlight. A young footballer received the heart, rushed by road and air through the night. Years later, the donor's mother placed her hand on the recipient's chest, feeling her son's heartbeat.
The story, featured on BBC Radio 4's The Boy Who Gave His Heart Away, highlights the profound impact of organ donation. Journalist Michael Buerk, who reported the tale, was so moved he signed up as a donor the next day.'
