Heart Donated by Slain Marine Saves Man's Life

A heart donated by a Marine, who survived two tours in Iraq and was killed by a gang member, has saved a former Marine’s life. In a bizarre twist, the surviving soldier is displaying some of the characteristics of the dead donor.

Ricky Martinez Jr. had just returned from his second tour in Iraq and had gone to watch his favorite Cubs game in 2006. While he was returning back home after the game, he got hit by a stray bullet by a gang member, who mistook Martinez for a rival gang member. His parents, Ricardo Martinez and Adalila Cruz, donated his heart but didn’t know who they gave the heart to, due to confidentiality reasons. The heart was donated to a former marine, Brian Troy, 43. Adalila and Ricardo Martinez didn’t want to contact Brian Troy at first because both were in grief, but later decided to find out the person who has her son’s heart. Brian, however, wanted to thank the family and tried to reach them without any success. Until now. They both contacted the “Gift of Hope” organ donor network to find out more about each other. The network initially was hesitant and took more than a year of persuasion. After they studied the situation in detail, the network agreed to share the contact information. Both families were present in the press conference Saturday and were happy to see each other. They also promoted organ donation with the Secretary of State Jesse White. Adalila told AP: "The first year we didn't try to find out, with all the pain and grieving…But it got to the point where I thought, 'What's done is done, I want to meet the person who has my son's heart.'" Troy and his wife, Denise, said that his life changed after the transplant. Troy is even displaying some of the characteristics of the donor, which scientists call “transplant memory.” Troy is displaying some physical and mental traits of the slain marine. He has black hair growing on his chest; before he had blonde hair. He also started to like nachos, which was Ricky Martinez’s favorite snack food. The video shows Ricky Martinez’s parents talking about this extraordinary exchange of hearts.