Teen Receives Heart Transplant After Young Man Passes Away & Brings Two Families Together

May 30, 2022 by apost team

One mother from Madisonville, Louisiana was able to listen to her son's heartbeat one more time after he died in a car accident almost two years ago. With help from the nonprofit Lousiana Organ Procurement Agency, Maria Clark met her son's organ recipient, fourteen-year-old Jean Paul Marceaux, on May 14, 2022, in New Orleans. 

Upon his death, Clark's twenty-five-year-old son, Nicholas Peters, had donated his organs, namely his heart. On her son's wish, Clark said, agreeing with the decision, "We can't bury all of this magic…we have to share." Clark described her son as "the life of the party," noting that he was "always a people person, helping everybody, going out of his way to make sure you knew you were special." After he had passed, Nick’s heart traveled three hours to nearby New Iberia, Lousiana to help one more family in need. 

There, another mother, Candice Armstrong, had received a life-altering call. A donor heart had become available for her son, Jean Paul. The young teen had cardiomyopathy, a deadly condition he developed after contracting a virus as a two-year-old and was in desperate need of a new heart.

He had spent the past months in the hospital, fighting to stay alive, awaiting that one-in-a-million call. With Nick's donation, Jean Paul was off the waitlist and just in time. His mother felt a "flood of emotions," upon hearing the news. "It's a very unusual circumstance to be in," she said, "I know another mother is having what I have been praying to not happen." 

Armstrong was well-aware of the sacrifice involved, given her son received his first organ transplant ten years ago. After being on life support, two-year-old Jean Paul underwent his first heart transplant surgery. A decade later, Jean Paul's heart again needed replacing. Finding herself back in the difficult position of awaiting an organ, Armstrong said, "It's such a dichotomy because you are hoping for it because it’s going to sustain your son’s life, but you know what this is attached to."

Additionally, the Armstrongs never knew their first donor, whom recipient families refer to as "heroes." Jean Paul "never had a response from [his] first hero's family," but nevertheless the Armstrongs "still honor [them].” However, the experience remained “just not tangible." Armstrong recalled, "We never had a face. We didn’t know who it was." However, after receiving Nick's heart, they also received a letter after about a year. It was from Maria Clark and, in a way, also Nick.

Clark introduced the Armstrongs to her son, hoping to tell "tell [Jean Paul] about the life [he] had in [him.]" Clark also wanted "wanted to know where his organs [were.]" On her motivation for writing the Armstrongs, Clark said, "I want to know that they're okay, that they're doing fine and moving on with their lives and their health."

The two mothers connected, unable to initially to meet in-person due to the pandemic, but they kept in contact via social media. Armstrong shared updates on Jean Paul's recovery until his immune system was strong enough for visitors. 

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When he was strong enough to meet Clark, Jean Paul and his mother brought another gift: a stethoscope. In describing meeting the young man, Clark said, "He came in and he just hugged me. He had a strong hug, just like Nick did...And then to hear the heartbeat, it was so strong and so full of life." The sound "came through the stethoscope so strong, just beating like a drum." Clark recalled how she felt "so connected to [Jean Paul] because he was so much like Nick."

The two families stayed in contact after meeting, forming another kind of extended family. Armstrong said she considers Clark, her surviving children, as well as grandchildren their people "forever."  Jean Paul even has a photo of Nick on his bookshelf. On her family's relationship with their hero, Armstrong said, "We feel like we know him..."We talk about him, Nick like he’s part of his family, and he is. It’s not donor any more, it’s Nick." 

She continued, saying, "Nobody wants to talk about what happens when somebody passes away. It’s an uncomfortable situation...But it’s very important because someone like Jean Paul, he wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for organ donation." According to the Department of Health and Human Services, 100,000 patients of all ages are currently on the national transplant waiting list, awaiting that life-saving call. 

Clark, who of course misses Nick "every day," is comforted by the fact that her child's life went towards offsetting this imbalance. His organ donation was a way for him to stay, to "live on through others."

How would you honor a loved one after they've passed? Let us know — and be sure to pass this article on to friends, family, and fellow heroes!