Mom hears deceased son’s heartbeat again in donor recipient

Caleb Beaver, 16, died on Christmas Day.

His parents, April and Owen Beaver, donated the teen's organs.

Eight months later, the grieving parents from Mississippi heard their son's heartbeat again — in a tearful meeting with the man who received Caleb's heart.

"I was talking to God and crying out and I asked God to let me have a dream or something. I wanted to feel close to Caleb's heart. I wanted to hear his heart beat," April told WLOX.

Her prayers were answered in a letter from Kentucky.

Chuck Shelton, a psychiatrist from Lexington, Kentucky, wrote a thank-you note to the Beavers following the successful transplant the day after Caleb died.

Last week, Shelton and his wife met the Beavers at the Gulfport airport where Shelton invited Caleb's parents to use a stethoscope to feel and hear the familiar heartbeat.

"I can't even describe it," April Beaver said, in tears. "I can't even put it into words. I recognize it. It's such a strong heartbeat."

"Thank you for this gift," Chuck Shelton responded.

He calls his recovery and good health "amazing."

Caleb had a condition known as arteriovenous malformation, defects in the circulatory system that develop in the womb or shortly after birth. His parents were unaware of the condition until he became ill and suffered two strokes just days before Christmas, the Associated Press reports.

Shelton had been diagnosed with an inflammatory disease and spent nearly two months in the hospital awaiting a donation.

"This heart is amazing," Shelton said. "It's given me life so I can be with my wife and boys. Caleb still lives through me. Caleb's in heaven, but he's still here."

The two families spent the weekend together, releasing balloons in Caleb's honour at a nearby soccer field where the teen often played. The Beavers and Sheltons plan on teaming up to raise awareness about organ donation.