Hero Soldier's Heart Keeps Giving

(CBS)  Ben Kopp, of Minneapolis, Minn., became every bit the Army Ranger he'd wanted to be since he was 7 years old. He completed two tours in Iraq by the time he was 22, and returned overseas to Afghanistan -- and dozens of dangerous missions hunting the Taliban.

But two weeks before he was set to come home, Kopp was gravely wounded saving his unit in a firefight. CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers reported Kopp was airlifted off the battlefield, and made it halfway around the world to Washington, D.C.'s Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Kopp's mother, Jill Stephenson, rushed from Minnesota to be at her only son's side as the doctors fought an uphill battle.

Kopp died July 18. He was buried Friday in Arlington National Cemetery.

However, Kopp's heroics didn't end in Afghanistan. Even in death, he has continued to save lives.

Kopp designated himself an organ donor on his driver's license. Stephenson said on "The Early Show" Monday her son talked with her about organ donation when he turned 21 in January.

"There wasn't any question about it," she said. "He'd had it (auhtorization to harvest his organs) on his license in the past."

And now, because of his choice, people such as Judy Meikle, of Chicago, have another chance at life. As many as 75 lives may be saved, prolonged or enriched due to transplants of his organs, tissue and bones.

Meikle said, "I kind of refer to Ben in the third-person, as my heart now."

Meikle, 57, who was the picture of health until last fall, woke up and couldn't breathe. She was shocked when she got to the hospital.

"I went from literally water-skiing to needing a heart transplant in less than a month," she said on "The Early Show."

"There was no choice," she said. "There was no way to repair it. I needed a transplant." Meikle had a congenital heart condition.

Stephenson mother heard about Meikle's plight from Stephenson's cousin, who knew Meikle, and knew Ben's sacrifice would be Meikle's salvation.

Stephenson said, "To experience that joy along with my sorrow -- that's got to be what a miracle feels like."

And Meikle says it's a matter of generosity that she was designated by Stephenson as the heart recipient.

"I don't think there can be a better tribute to Jill's generosity and Ben's -- literally in my case -- Ben's big brave heart, than to have his heart keep beating inside me."

Kopp's mother and Miekle spoke for the first time on "The Early Show" Monday.

Stephenson explained that she was given the option by the transplant team of designating a recipient of her son's organs, as long as the person was on the waiting list. Stephenson said she didn't know anyone on the list.

However, when her cousin Marie left a comment on Stephenson's Web site dedicated to Kopp, saying that because of Kopp's sacrifice, other people's lives -- like her friend Meikle's, could be saved -- Stephenson took action.

Stephenson said, "We shared (her name) with the transplant team, and then a miracle occurred."

Meikle said "everything" has improved since the transplant.

"I've never had very good circulation. My feet and hands were always cold. With Ben's heart in me, that is not the case anymore. My pulse is better - everything," she said. "I'm three weeks from a heart transplant, and you can look at me, and people don't even believe it."

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To learn more about organ donation, visit Organ Donor.gov.

[gramto8]

About all I can say is 'ditto to all the above comments.'

[lillylucy]

I agree with both of the above comments, even tho I am opposed to war under almost all circumstances. I am so glad that all of the local stations in the Chicago area have done broadcasts on this story, both to promote organ donations, as well as to remind all of us about honor and giving, and to show others what a real hero is with Ben and his family. I know that Judy is already giving back. By the way, is there a video of this story? I couldn't locate it and was unable to watch the show this AM.

[rf35]

The concept of service before self is common to members of all the US military services. This is a great example of that. A military life is not just about killing and war. It's service in the purest sense.