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Woman Receives Heart From Soldier Killed In War

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Oct 1, 2009 6:41 pm US/Central

Woman Receives Heart From Soldier Killed In War

Read More Health Stories
Show Tells Donors, Patients Stories At Organ Transplant Hospital

Reporting
John Lauritsen
(WCCO) A Minnesota soldier killed in Afghanistan is living on in other ways. Army Ranger Corporal Ben Kopp was mortally wounded during a fight with the Taliban.

At his funeral in Rosemount, Corporal Kopp was remembered as someone who always looked out for others. He saved the lives of six of his fellow Rangers while losing his own in Afghanistan. But even after his death, Ben Kopp isn't done being a hero.

"Once it was determined that Ben wouldn't survive we began working with the transplant team. We were able to donate all his organs to people in need," said his mom Jill Stephenson.

His heart went to a 57-year-old woman in Chicago named Judy Meikle.

"The surgeon came out after the surgery and said 'Judy, you have a great heart. Not a good heart, a great heart,'" Meikle said.

In a sense, she now has the heart of a soldier. And Wednesday, she finally got to meet the mother of the man who saved her life. Judy and Ben's mother Jill have formed a bond over the Internet and on the phone, and met for the first time at an organ donation conference in Dallas. There were tears of sadness and of joy.

"It's beating fast. He can tell you are here," Meikle told Stephenson after they embraced.

It is the first of what promises to be many meetings, but it is also a reunion between a mother and part of the son she lost.

"There was never any hesitation on his part and we agreed that if it is our time to go and we have good organs we should let someone else use them," Stephenson said.

Meikle said she got her color back and had warm hands and feet for the first time in years after receiving Ben's heart. She also has developed a taste for green beans, which were Ben's favorite vegetable.

In all, 75 people have received Ben's tissues and organs.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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