14-year-old boy meets his heart donor's family
DURHAM -- Albert Jeffries, known to family and friends as Al-J, was overcome with emotion as he met his heart donor's family for the first time.
The 14-year-old from Burlington waited nearly 100 days before getting the call there was a heart for him.
Read more: Teen gets life-saving heart transplant.
He was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart, when he was born and spent most of his life in and out of a hospital.
Katelyn Zimmerman's family listened closely to Al-J's chest with a stethoscope Monday at Carolina Donor Services in Durham.
Katelyn, also 14 from Florida, was hit by a drunk driver in March while she was riding her bike. She and her younger brother, Dylan, were both killed.
Hours before the crash, Katelyn told her grandmother she wanted to become an organ donor.
That same day, Al-J received her heart via transplant.
Read more: Teen with heart transplant gets key to the city.
"He gets to do what Katelyn can't do, live on, do a kid thing, be a kid," said her father, Shawn Zimmerman.
Katelyn's grandmother found Al-J's story on Facebook and on Monday afternoon the two families finally connected.
"We could not stop crying. We could not stop hugging. We could not stop thanking them for everything. A thank you is just not enough, it's just not enough for what they've done for my family," said Al-J's mother, Tina Turner.
