A grieving mother has been comforted by the sound of her late son’s beating heart — the only thing is, the organ is now sustaining the life of a young girl.
Brooke Eaton’s two-year-old son Cazmirr, or “Cash,” lost his life in a pool drowning accident last summer, but his heart continues to live on in 16-month-old Lola Bond, who was desperate for a transplant at the time.
Though Lola underwent the operation at University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital back in September, Eaton only recently got the chance to meet the brave little girl and hear the beat of her son’s heart for the first time since his untimely death.
“As soon as I walked in the room, it was very overwhelming,” Eaton said, according to CNN. “I saw her, and I just broke down and cried … I could feel my son. His heartbeat was so pure.”
“I fell in love with her,” Eaton added of the special moment, which was caught on camera. “She’s just precious.”
The mom added that the pair bonded in a powerful way, despite the uniquely tragic circumstances through which the situation came about.
“We’re gonna have a connection the rest of our life,” she said.
Lola was born with a heart disease called cardiomyopathy, which can cause the heart to become enlarged, thick or rigid, impairing the organ’s ability to pump blood around the body. According to KidsHealth.org, there is no known cause for the disease, though it can run in families.
There is, however, a tried-and-tested cure — a fresh new heart. And that’s exactly what Lola has been gifted.
Doctors noted that, while the young girl will need to remain on anti-rejection medication for the rest of her life, they expect her to make a full recovery.
“Knowing that there’s a whole ‘nother family out there that loves her as much as we do is amazing,” the youngster’s grandmother, Margaret Bond Vorel, told WCCO. “There’s no doubt we wouldn’t have her alive if it wasn’t for the miracle that we received in this heart,” she added to Fox 9.
Incredibly, Cash’s organs saved three other children as well.
“He loved to share,” Eaton added of her precious boy. “So part of his life and giving some of it to Lola and other children is part of who he was.”