Mom Whose Late Son Died in Drowning Hears His Heart in Little Girl It Saved
An Illinois mother who lost her 2-year-old son last year got to hear his heart beat once again in an emotional reunion with the toddler to whom the organ was donated.
Brooke Eaton’s son Cazmirr “Cash” Landers drowned in a pool accident last summer, but his heart lives on in 16-month-old Lola Bond. Though Lola received Cash’s heart in a transplant in September, Eaton recently visited with the girl for the first time, prompting a tearful wave of emotion.
“As soon as I walked in the room, it was very overwhelming,” she said, according to CNN. “I saw her, and I just broke down and cried … I could feel my son. His heartbeat was so pure.”
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In a video of the special moment, Eaton listens to Lola’s heartbeat through a stethoscope, taking a deep sigh and pulling the girl close as tears well in her eyes.
“As soon as I saw her, I fell in love with her. She’s just precious,” she told WCCO. “To have a connection with your baby still, just like me and Lola. We’re gonna have a connection the rest of our life.”
Eaton, a single mom, brought 4-year-old daughter Cierra along for the trip from their home in Pekin, Illinois, to the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis, where Lola has been receiving treatment.
The toddler was born with cardiomyopathy, a disease that typically causes the heart to become enlarged, thick or rigid, according to the American Heart Association.
Her family was told she’d need a heart transplant in order to survive when she was just 16 days old, CNN reports.
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Though she’ll remain on anti-rejection medication for the rest of her life, Lola is expected to make a full recovery and will be able to enjoy a normal childhood, though she’ll likely need another heart transplant in the future.
“Knowing that there’s a whole ‘nother family out there that loves her as much as we do is amazing,” her grandmother Margaret Bond Vorel told WCCO.
In addition to helping Lola, Cash’s organs reportedly saved three other children as well.
“He loved to share, so part of his life and giving some of it to Lola and other children is part of who he was,” Eaton told Fox 9.
