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Heart donation thank you: Man receives teddy bear with recording of son’s heart

When Dakota Reid, 16, died after a car crash more than a year ago, his family made sure that their loss would be used so others didn’t have to mourn their loved ones. They decided to donate Dakota’s organs.

One man, Robert O’Connor, was the recipient of Dakota’s heart.

During a checkup, O’Connor had an idea, he had his heartbeat, Dakota’s heartbeat, recorded to give to the teen’s family.

O’Conner took that recording, went to a Build-A-Bear Workshop and had the recording put inside a bear, sending it to Stephanie Reid and John Reid. The bear was dressed in a shirt that read “Best Dad Ever,” CBS News reported.

Stephanie Reid recorded the moment her husband pressed the bear’s paw and heard his son’s heart beating once again.

The gentleman who received Dakotas heart sent John Allen Lee Reid a build a bear with Dakotas heartbeat! ❤️❤️❤️. Thank you!

Posted by Stephanie Reid on Wednesday, February 5, 2020

“It felt like I was there again; like he was with me you know, and now I can listen to it any time I want to,” he told WRIC.

Not only did Dakota help save O’Conner’s life, his corneas are also allowing a man to see for the first time, WRIC reported. Another man received Dakota’s kidney and pancreas, CBS News reported.

As for the connection now cemented between O’Conner and the Reid family, they all have plans to meet in person, WRIC reported.

“We are blood now! We are family,” John Reid told CBS News.