Two families share a heart-to-heart bond following a transplant

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - One survives and the other dies — that is the brutal reality of heart donorship. No one knows that better than Cartesha Hutson.

With the stethoscope to her ears, Tesha listens intently, completely left speechless by the moment.

What do you say when you’re listening to your son’s heart through another man?

“Overwhelmed, I’m just overwhelmed,” said Tesha.

The heart is that of Tesha’s eldest son, Chris. Seven years ago, at 19 years young, Chris was killed in a suspected road rage incident.

“His girlfriend called screaming; Chris was shot! He was shot in the head, and he’s just not going to make it,” said Tesha.

Tesha was forced to make the toughest decision of her life; her son had recently signed on as an organ donor.

“He was like ‘well, if I’m not here, there’s no reason for me to not do it,’ so I’m going to do it,” Tesha said. “And three months later, he was donating.”

At about the same time, Gary Dixon’s heart was dying.

“I mean at that point I couldn’t walk out to the mailbox and back,” said Gary.

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Since 1999, Gary had always managed to live with an enlarged heart, but after 17 years, the condition worsened.

“I recognized how sick he was,” said Gary.

“His heart just deteriorated and fell apart for no good reason,” said Dr. Andrew Kao, the transplant cardiologist at St. Luke’s Health.

Gary’s only option was a heart transplant. So, he checked into the hospital and waited.

“So early on I had a mantra, one day closer. If you’re a day closer, you can deal with one day. I mean essentially I was on a tragedy in someone’s life to get my gift.”

Five and half weeks later, the gift came, but at great sacrifice.

“At the end of the day, Chris is not here, and as a mother, I yearn for my son,” said Tesha.

How do you get over your tragedy becoming someone else’s gain?

“One of the things I did as soon as I got out of the hospital is I started writing letters to my donor family and I signed them one day closer,” said Gary.

“Hi letter, like the words, they jumped out at me,” recalled Tesha.

Tesha and Gary continued to write each other for a year.

“One day I just picked up the phone and said I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it and I called him,” said Tesha. “At first it was really awkward. I was like ‘this is weird.’”

Soon the weirdness turned into comfort.

“He’s always there to and just show our family that he loves us, and I’m appreciative of that and it makes me feel better,” said Tesha.

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You might say the two families share a true heart-to-heart bond.

“We’ve been family ever since, they just welcomed me into their family,” said Gary.

Six other families benefitted from Chris’s organs, but Gary remains the closest with the Hutsons. Together, Gary and Tesha’s family build and live Chris’s legacy.

“That’s the story of life looking for that better tomorrow even though Chris isn’t here, Gary is that better tomorrow,” said Tesha.

Strangers coming together to heal broken hearts.

“He’s my stranger and he’s healing our broken heart,” said Tesha, giving Gary a hug.

Gary is also carrying Chris’s legacy as a volunteer with the Midwest Transplant Network and Gift of Life, an organization dedicated to teaching school kids around organ donation.

For more information about being an organ donor, organdonor.gov.

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