After daughter's death, dad bikes cross-country to hear her heartbeat

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (KTRK) -- Bill Conner biked 2,600 miles across the country to cope with his daughter's death. But, Conner's daughter lives on in a man who needed a life-saving transplant.

Back in January, Conner's daughter, Abbey, died suddenly at 20 years old, WAFB reports.

While Abbey passed, a part of her lived on in Loumonth Jack Jr., who was in sudden need of a heart. The seemingly healthy young man suffered a heart attack and later a damaging infection.

In a combination of great fortune and timing, Abbey's heart was on the way to Louisiana and Loumonth one day after her death. Abbey was a registered organ donor.

"Seeing my daughter on life support then finding out that they were matches. And four of her organs were ready to be harvested; made it a little bit easier that we were helping someone in need," Bill said.

Bill says the bike ride serves a two-fold purpose. While he feels a connection with his daughter, he also is touting the importance of organ donations with every person he comes across.

Toward the end of the bike ride fittingly on Father's Day, Bill arrived in Loumonth's hometown of Baton Rouge. The two met for the first time since Loumonth received Abbey's heart.

In an emotional scene, Bill held a stethoscope to Loumonth's chest and heard his daughter's heartbeat.

"She saved me and I can't repay her. I wish I could but I can't. All I can do is send my love to her family," Loumonth said.

Bill continued his bike ride to Abbey's final resting place of Florida.

You can follow his journey at this link. You can also learn more about organ donations here.

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