Man who received heart transplant goes on to live same life and death as donor

Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing

A man who got a new heart in a transplant ended up living an eerily similar life to that of the man who'd ended up being his donor.

In 1995, 33-year-old South Carolina man Terry Cottle shot himself in his bathroom and died after four days in hospital, with his life support being switched off and his organs donated.

Terry's suicide resulted in Georgia man Sonny Graham, 57, getting a call to tell him that a heart had become available for transplant.

Sonny had been told he was on the verge of congestive heart failure and he went under the knife to have Terry's transplanted into his body.

The 57-year-old then started to discover that some things about his life were changing, including beginning to develop a greater taste for beer and hot dogs.

Terry Cottle committed suicide at the age of 33, his heart ended up being transplanted into someone else (Family Handout)

As it turns out these had been things Terry had really enjoyed, and people who knew Sonny said he started to become restless.

The year after the transplant, Sonny asked if he could send a letter to Terry's family so he could personally thank Terry's wife, Cheryl.

In January 1997 he and his wife met the 30-year-old widow for dinner and in April of the same year they attended her wedding, Sonny even gave Cheryl away during the ceremony.

A couple of years after they'd first met, Cheryl gave birth to a son with her new husband while Sonny's wife was discovering that her husband was closer to the widow of the man whose heart he had than she thought.

Sonny had not only developed a liking for Terry's favourite food, he'd also taken a shine to his wife.

"I felt like I had known her for years, I couldn't keep my eyes off her. I just stared," CBS reports Sonny as saying of his first meeting where he claimed he fell in love with her 'the first time they met'.

Sonny Graham got Terry's heart, then developed a taste for his favourite food, married his widow and then tragically committed suicide (Family Handout)

Sonny's 38-year-long marriage ended, while Cheryl broke up with her husband George Watkins.

In 2001 Sonny and Cheryl moved in together, with him planning to build her a house to live in.

The relationship did not go smoothly, a few months after moving in together Cheryl left to get married again and Sonny sued her.

That new marriage didn't last for Cheryl and in December 2004 she and Sonny tied the knot, meaning the man had married the same woman his heart transplant donor had wed.

Having lived a life similar to the one his heart donor had led, Sonny sadly died in a similar circumstance as he committed suicide on 1 April, 2008.

People who've come across the eerie similarities in life and death between two men who shared the same heart have said it was 'mind-boggling and heartbreaking all at once' and a 'haunting coincidence'.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.