It was special to know our son’s heart had been beating for 13 years in Marc’s chest. Now he’s gone too. It’s like losing our boy all over again
A mum who donated her son’s heart has told how the death of the recipient was like “losing him all over again”.
Sue Burton and her husband Nigel agreed to donate their son Martin’s organs in 2003 after he died, aged 16.
Their decision saved the life of Marc McCay, who had been given hours to live.
Sadly, Marc, from Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, passed away last September after suffering a cardiac arrest 13 years after his life-saving transplant.
Sue said: “When I first heard I was very upset but I think even then I was upset for the family.
“We’d done our grieving for Martin 13 years previously and I couldn’t do it again because it was too painful. The funeral was very hard because at that moment we were burying a little bit of Martin.”
Marc’s mum Linda and Sue have forged a strong bond which has helped them both deal with their grief.
Linda said: “Sue has been my saviour. She messages me every day to see how I am.
“At the church for Marc’s funeral, I just felt that Sue and her husband Nigel should be with us.
“We all walked in together and they stayed by my side the whole time.
“I know they found it hard too. Sue said that it was like losing Martin all over again.
“My life has been turned upside down. It’s been six months since Marc died but I’ve only just stopped going up to the cemetery every day. “It’s the place I feel closest to him.” Sue, from Grantham in Lincolnshire, said: “It’s a special bond because it was never expected.
“We were never expected to meet and when we did it was nice, but we were in different positions because Marc was doing well and I was the bereaved parent.
“Then, of course, when Marc passed