"Man with suicide victims heart takes his own life"
I found this article awhile ago, it is from April 2008, but it is an interesting aspect of organ donating that we didn't get a chance to discuss.
In the article a man receives a heart transplant and ends up dying the same way that the donor did, as well as marrying the wife of the donor. The cause of death was a self inflicted gunshot wound.
This article is an example of something we see in movies and television and sometimes hear about in the news, when the organ recipient begins to take on traits of the donor.
I wonder if there is any medical truth behind this phenomenon or if it is something that is thought up in the mind. Can an organ of one body really transfer the thoughts and feelings into the new body?
To me this really just seems like a coincidence, not a medical miracle. Also if the donor had killed himself then I believe it is safe to assume that he suffered from some sort of mental disorder or disease. Then the recipient dies the same exact way, is it possible for mental disease to cross over even when the source of the disease was not located in the transplanted organ? I really can not believe that this is possible.
These types of stories begin to blur the line between mind and body. There's the idea of qualities associated with the mind being associated with the body, and maybe proving that there is an even greater connection between mind and body that was previously thought.
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That is really creepy. Especially that he married the donor's old wife. Maybe it was her, not the heart.
ReplyDeletehaha! That's EXACTLY what I thought when I read it. But in all seriousness, after reading that article, I think that perhaps there were far more social causes in that situation that did not have anything to do with the heart transplant. I mean he had been married before and had other children. I'm not looking down on divorce, it's just that perhaps he did not make the best relationship decisions (I have no idea though) and his marriage to the significantly younger widow of his heart donor doesn't seem to imply wonderful things. But perhaps I am being extremely judgmental.
ReplyDeleteWow what a bizarre story. This reminds me of a story I read in my religion class about Native American traditions. They believe that the person's spirit embodies every part of their body including their organs. They don't believe in organ donation for that very reason, but if you do get a donated organ, it will be haunted by the original spirit. Also, your spirit will be only partial after an organ of yours is removed. This is an interesting take on organ donation, maybe he was haunted?
ReplyDeleteI agree that this story would make a really good movie!
Jean Luc Nancy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Luc_Nancy) has a lovely and provocative story about his experience of receiving a heart transplant. Called L'Intrus (The Intruder), he explores the perceived boundaries of the inside/outside of the body, and how transplantation complicates these. I have a copy, if you're interested -- just let me know.
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