Dancing for joy on my wedding day... with the man my donor brother saved
A BRIDE’S big day felt complete when the man who received her lost brother’s heart in a transplant arrived as a guest.
Julie Teasdale later danced and embraced Scott Rutherford, 28, as they remembered her brother, John Carter, who died of a brain tumour in 2008.
Scott formed an unbreakable bond with John’s parents six years ago after he discovered that they had donated their 33-year-old son’s heart so he could live.
The actor was born with a rare condition preventing the pumping chambers of the heart functioning correctly.
After four big ops he suffered cardiac failure at 14 and had his transplant a year later.
He later met his donor’s family, with Freda, John’s mum, going on to attend his birthdays.
Scott said he went to Julie’s recent wedding so that her brother John could be there with the family “in his own way”.
He said: “Freda just put her hand on my chest and felt John’s heartbeat and Julie did the same, and I think we all just shared that moment together.
“It was really emotional. I had tears streaming down my face, but it was just so beautiful at the same time. It was like he was there in his own way.”
“I remember Julie saying when me and my partner left, ‘Thank you for coming, it made my night.’ ”
And I said, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. You saved my life, so of course, I’m going to bring John along.”
Scott, from North Shields, Tyne and Wear, had his first open-heart surgery when he was just nine hours old after specialist doctors discovered he had his “transposition of the great arteries” condition. But when he suffered heart failure at 14, doctors told him his only hope was a transplant. While in hospital after the operation he claims his donor came to him in a “very strange dream” and introduced himself.
He said: “I was sitting in a pub and this man sat next to me.”
The man had had a long day at work and his watch beeped. The person said: “I’ve got to go”, adding: “Oh, by the way, my name is John.”
Scott bumped into John’s family when he spoke at the “last minute” at an event for organ donors and became close to Freda. He said it was “incredible” to be asked to attend the “momentous” wedding.