An Alaska woman received the best wedding gift ever, 鈥渉ands down,鈥� when the young man who received her deceased son鈥檚 heart surprised her on her wedding day.
Becky Turney had never met Jacob Kilby, the man who received the heart of her son Triston, who died suddenly in the fall of 2015. But that meeting finally happened this past weekend, and their wedding photographer captured the moment.
Becky鈥檚 then-fiancé, Kelly Turney, arranged the surprise, secretly inviting Jacob to the nuptials so that a little part of Triston could be there for their special day.
鈥淜elly wanted to surprise Becky for the wedding,鈥� Jacob told CTVNews.ca by telephone from Palmer, Alaska. 鈥淗e offered to send me a ticket so I could fly up for the wedding. I was super excited to do it.鈥�
So the 21-year-old flew from his home in San Diego, Calif. to Palmer. He stayed out of sight while waiting for the ceremony to begin, keeping his head down as he took his seat.
After the bride walked the aisle, the groom turned to the guests, telling them that while Triston couldn鈥檛 be there, he was there with them 鈥渋n spirit鈥� and then invited Jacob to come up and meet Becky.
The wedding photographers, Love Adventured, snapped pictures as two shared a long hug, bringing Becky and most of the wedding party to tears.
Later, as the reception got underway, Jacob brought out a stethoscope he had packed along in his suitcase and asked Becky if she wanted to listen to his heart. The wedding photographer caught the moment as Becky鈥檚 eyes filled with tears while she listened to her son鈥檚 heart beating inside Jacob鈥檚 chest.
鈥淭hings got super emotional,鈥� he said. 鈥�...She was just so excited. It was鈥� it was just unexplainable. She was so overcome with emotion.鈥�
Becky later wrote on her page that Jacob鈥檚 presence at the wedding was 鈥渉ands down the best gift鈥� and the 鈥渕ost amazing surprise ever!鈥�
The moment was pretty terrific for Jacob too, since without Triston鈥檚 heart, he might not have been there at all to witness the moment.
Jacob was born with a genetic defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. He underwent three surgeries in his first weeks of life but doctors could not repair his heart. So at the age of two, he received his first heart transplant.
By his senior year of high school, though, his body began to reject the organ. He developed a condition called cardiac allograft vasculopathy, or CAV, which caused the arteries in his heart to begin to collapse.
Doctors inserted stents into his arteries and placed him back on a heart transplant waiting list.
When Jacob experienced a heart attack while surfing near his California home not long after, his need for a new heart became urgent. That wait ended just 45 days later when Triston died and Jacob was selected to receive his heart.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 have received a better heart,鈥� Jacob said. 鈥淚鈥檝e had zero complications. I'm back to exercise, back to school, back to surfing.鈥�
Jacob鈥檚 aunt encouraged him to contact the organ donor agency and ask if the family was interested in making a connection. He was reticent to reach out at first but the Turneys wanted to connect, too. They exchanged letters and cards and 鈥渇riended鈥� each other on Facebook, but they had never met until this past weekend.
Now, Kilby says he鈥檚 so glad he reached out when he did because it led to such an 鈥渁wesome鈥� meeting.
鈥淚 now have a family here,鈥� he said.
With the photos spreading around the internet, Kilby鈥檚 phone has been ringing non-stop and he hasn鈥檛 yet had a lot of time to explore Alaska.
But he says he doesn鈥檛 mind since he鈥檚 always happy to talk about organ donation. He also wants to encourage other organ donors and recipients to try to connect if they can.
鈥淚f you haven鈥檛 reached out to a donor, take that chance,鈥� he said. 鈥淪omething really good could come out of it.鈥�
