Arizona Mom Hears Son's Donated Heart inside Recipient's Chest, 'Not a Dry Eye in the Room'

By Julie Brown Patton
Heart Donation
''There was not a dry eye in the room.'' After her son Lukas died at just 7 months old in 2013, Heather Clark made the decision to donate his organs, saving three lives. One of them is 4-year-old Jordan Drake. She received his heart, saving her life. This weekend, Heather met Jordan at Phoenix Children's Hospital - and was able to hear her son's heart beating for the first time in three years. Twitter/Photo courtesy Donor Network of Arizona Twitter/Photo courtesy Donor Network of Arizona

When a mother in Arizona had to face the tragic death of her 7-month-old son, Lukas, from the abuse of a babysitter's boyfriend, she did what many parents hope they have the courage to do:  donate the remaining organs to try to help save the lives of others. This weekend, that mother got to hear the heart beat of her son, but from inside a little girl, who is fortunate due to another's misfortune.

In 2013, Lukas' mother, Heather Clark, left her infant son with a trusted babysitter, Fox 10 in Phoenix reports. The sitter's boyfriend abuse little Lukas, who later died.

With the help of the donor network of Arizona at Phoenix Children's Hospital, Clark made the decision to allow Lukas' body to save three other lives.

This weekend, Clark met the family of one of those kids:  4-year-old Jordan Drake, who in 2013, received the heart she needed to survive.

"It's hard to describe that she would be so selfless to be able to think of another family while she's going through her grief," said Jordan's mother, Esther Gonzalez.

Clark cried while she listened to her son's donated heart beat inside Jordan's chest.

"There's another family out there somewhere, who's feeling something like what I'm feeling," Clark explained. "And I have the chance to make them not go through what I'm about to go through."

Drake presented Clark with a red teddy bear containing a recording of her heart, which was previously Lukas' heart, creating a special, forever bond between the two families.