‘I Could Feel Him There': Mom Listens to Son's Donated Heart Beat in Little Girl

Holding a stethoscope to 4-year old Jordan Drake's chest, the Rancho Cucamonga, California, mother cried during an emotional meeting on Jan. 29 at the Heart Center at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

Three years after her 7-month-old son Lukas tragically died, Heather Clark was able to hear his donated heart beat once again inside a little girl. 

Holding a stethoscope to 4-year-old Jordan Drake's chest, the Rancho Cucamonga, California, mother cried during an emotional meeting on Jan. 29 at the Heart Center at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. 

"The sound was so strong," Clark, 25, told People magazine. "I could feel him there with me. He is continuing on through her, no doubt."

Lukas suffered fatal injuries allegedly at the hands of a babysitter’s boyfriend. He died three days later at a Loma Linda, California, hospital.

"The only thing I can think of is: I can't save my own son," Clark said of her decision to donate his organs, according to NBC affiliate KPNX. "Why not save someone else's."

Esther Gonzalez, Jordan's mother, said the donation was a gift, though she knew it came at a price for another mother.

“Instantly you feel relief, you know, she may make it. But on the flip, it took me a half a second for me to turn and say, 'a mother lost her child tonight,'" Gonzalez said, KPNX reported.

Jordan suffered from many health issues as a baby, her mother said, including seizures, stroke, brain and stomach bleeding. 

"She had brain surgery -- so many issues," said Gonzalez.

Jordan received the new heart at 18 months, but her meeting with Clark didn't happen for another two years. KPNX showed Jordan smiling and running in the hospital. 

Clark told People her donation was anonymous and both her and Gonzalez wrote letters and social media messages trying to find each other afterward. 

"Lukas has given Jordan this chance at life and I know he is looking down, wishing her the best and telling her to live her life to the fullest," Clark told People. "I could feel him there with me. He is continuing on through her, no doubt."

Jordan wasn't the only child Lukas helped, as two other lives were saved through the donation of his liver and kidney.

“He did more in 7 months in life than I've done in 25 years of life,” Clark said, KPNX reported.
 

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