Grieving Bay Area Mother Hears Beating Of Her Son's Heart In Transplant Recipient
OAKLAND (CBS SF) - Two Bay Area families are now united by one heart after an organ transplant saved one man's life when another died in a shooting.
It was a meeting no one could have predicted just one year ago.
"I know my son is happy that he was able to carry on still, even with him not being here," mother Lola Litscomb-Jones said.
Last June, her son Joseph Cox was shot and killed by a stranger in an act of road rage. But, the 43-year-old father of five was an organ donor, and Jay Potter, who suffers from Fabry Disease, was waiting for a heart.
"It's amazing to be able to meet his wonderful family," said Potter, who now has Cox's heart.
Potter met Cox's family and let the grieving mother hear her son's heartbeat once again.
"His heart was very strong as if he was the one standing up there," Litscomb-Jones said.
Cox's sister, Angela Jones, said she recognized that sound. In it was a message from her big brother.
"That's all I could here in his heart is telling me, don't cry. It's OK. It's gonna be OK," Jones said.
She shared a message of her own, saying everyone should consider being an organ donor. "I encourage everyone to go out and do it. Go to the DMV, get that stamp on there because it's a beautiful thing."