ROCKFORD, Ill. — The heart transplant that saved Brian Troy was made possible by a fellow Marine.
Troy, 43, of Rockford, served as a Marine in the 1980s. He was dying of an inherited heart condition in 2006 when he received a new heart in a transplant. The donor was 23. Troy didn't know much more than that.
Then Troy saw headlines about the murder of a 23-year-old Marine. He read about how Ricky Martinez survived two tours in Iraq, but he was shot to death in Chicago in a case of mistaken identity. The gunman thought a passenger in Martinez' car was a rival gang member, prosecutors said.
That was enough for Troy to guess his donor's identity. He then sent a thank-you letter to the family through an organ donor network. The first letter went unanswered, but a second, sent more than a year later, received a reply.
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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,340493,00.htmlWhat a great story, a wonderful outcome to a young man's sacrifice.
