DURHAM, N.C. — Emotions ran high as two families were brought together because of a heart transplant.
Just three hours before she died, Katelyn Zimmerman, 15, told her family she wanted to be a transplant donor.
Katelyn was riding her bike in Florida with her brother in March when she was hit by a vehicle.
Her heart went to Albert Jeffries, or Al Jay for short.%
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Al Jay got to meet Katelyn’s family for the first time Monday, after spending 127 days in the hospital from his heart surgery.
Katelyn’s father, Shawn, was able to hear his daughter’s heart beat once again in Al Jay.
“It put us at peace, knowing the heart is still beating,” he said.
Al Jay was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy as a 3-month-old and waited 13 years for a heart.
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“I felt sad, meeting the people who gave me a second chance,”
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Al Jay finally returned home on April 7 from his heart transplant.
“Words are not enough. So grateful to meet the people who donated the heart,” said Al Jay’s mother, Tina Turner.