In 2012, North Dakota mother Lisa Swanson lost her 18-year-old son, Levi in a devastating car accident.
On December 7, Levi was on his way to school when his vehicle got a flat tire. Tragically, a pick-up truck hit him while he was outside of his car.
“He was pretty much gone instantly,” said Lisa. “They took him to the hospital, and the doctors did everything they could to keep him alive. There was just nothing there anymore.”
Following the collision, he was kept on life support to preserve his organs for donation, a decision he had made prior to the accident.
At that time, Nebraska Medicine patient, 64-year-old Terry Hooper had been suffering from cardiomyopathy.
Cardiomyopathy is a condition that directly affects the hearts muscles, and prevents blood from sufficiently pumping through the body. At the stage of Levi’s accident, Terry’s heart was at just 5%.
He was diagnosed with the condition in 2003, and was placed on the transplant waiting list in 2012, where he waited 52 days for the news of his personal miracle.
Since the transplant operation, Terry and Lisa had kept in touch by the means of letters, but they were yet to meet face to face.
That was, of course, until this month.
In the incredibly touching video above, which was shared by Nebraska Medicine, Terry and Lisa can be seen meeting for the first time, along with Levi’s twin brother Shelby.
As they hug, Lisa tells him, “It’s so nice to meet you. You can’t cry though, or otherwise we won’t get through this.”
But Terry, who is touched beyond belief, can’t seem to hold back the tears as he meets the family that saved his life.
He points to his t-shirt which has Levi’s youthful face upon it and responds: “He’s my hero. There’s not a day that I don’t think of him.”
“He’s my hero. There’s not a day that I don’t think of him.”
The video then follows the pair as they make their way into another wing of the hospital so that Lisa can hear and see her son’s heart beat once more through a sonogram.
Naturally, Lisa is visibly overcome with emotion as she begins to sob, listening to the steady pounds of his healthy heart.
When asked how the rhythm sounds, she replies through tears: “Really good. It definitely sounds like it belongs in there.”
“I get happiness and sadness all at the same time. Sad that my son’s not here, but happy that he was able to help,” she explained bravely.
It was an emotional moment for the brave mum.
Lisa told ABC News that hearing her son’s heart beating in Terry’s chest felt “surreal.”
“It saved Terry’s life, so, to hear it beating so loud and so strong in him … it was a great experience,” she said.
“What it reminded me of is my son Levi at 64 years old,” she recalled. “That quick-wittedness and joking… it was almost like a perfect match.”
Lisa also recalled the exact moment her son decided to become a live-saving organ donor.
“When Levi went to get his driver’s license in North Dakota they ask if [he wanted] to be an organ donor.”
“I said, ‘Your dad is a donor, I’m a donor, your two older brothers are donors. He looked at me and said, ‘Mum, who wouldn’t want my awesomeness.’”
Lisa’s son’s heart beat strongly in the chest of another.
“He in the end helped over 60 people,” she told the publication. “I think organ donation is the most unselfish gift somebody can do.”
Nebraska Medicine shared the heart-warming moment on its official Facebook page on April 2.
Since its upload, the clip has been viewed over 50,000 times, and with over 1.5 thousand likes, it’s easy to see why the touching moment has been shared nearly 700 times.
