Labrador family's search for heart transplant recipient narrows with new clues
Jodi Loder says meeting man with her brother's heart would be special
Pat Loder is praying that her family will finally be able to meet the man who has her son's heart.
After taking his life in the summer of 2016, Jeff Loder's organs — his heart, lungs and liver — were donated to three different people.
The Loder family has been exchanging anonymous letters with the heart recipient for more than a year and a half.
Both parties want to meet each other, but provincial rules don't let them identify themselves.
This week, a third letter arrived in Happy Valley-Goose Bay for the Loders, coinciding with the second anniversary of the transplant on July 31, 2016.
"It was a beautiful gift to receive for us. Of course, you know me, I tore the letter open right away and starting reading. There was clues in the letter that would not normally be there," Pat said in a Labrador Morning interview.
The search narrows
The letter reveals that the heart recipient's youngest son and grandchildren live in North Bay, Ont.
It reads, in part:
"Your letter to me talked about Christmas and how it went. Mine was really good. All showed up except one. My youngest son from North Bay, they spoiled the hell out of me. I think that at one point they thought I won't be around."
Jodi was shocked when her mother called her with the details.
She went to paramedic school in that city last year, and has connections there.
"It's crazy. It's really overwhelming because I mean, you never know, I might have met them before or might have crossed paths and like not even known about it, so it's pretty intense," she said.
The Loder family believes they're close to finding the man now, and wants a conversation to start in North Bay about their search.
North Bay has the ability to put us hand-to-hand, heart-to-heart.- Pat Loder
Jodi is asking friends she has there to spread the word in hopes that someone knows someone. The family is considering reaching out to the mayor of North Bay, who it turns out went to Robert Leckie School in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
Pat explains that the whereabouts of donors and recipients is usually redacted from letters, marvelling that perhaps those in charge of vetting letters allowed "a little bit of humanity" to slip through.
Signed with a fish
The mystery heart recipient describes going bass fishing in the letter, signing it with a drawing of a fish.
Pat says she gets the feeling that he's humorous and down-to-earth, musing that he and her late son Jeff share a love of the outdoors.
She says she can't wait to meet the man and his family who've been given a second chance.
The recipient wrote that he was going to be at the Ottawa Heart Institute for his two-year checkup, half-tempting Pat to get on a plane.
"I was thinking, 'OK, I'll get a little placard with a picture of Jeff on it and say July the 31st, 2016. His heart came here.' And then I thought, 'Oh my God, poor guy. He'd probably have a heart attack,'" she said chuckling, adding that the family will let the meeting happen at its own pace.
In February, the Loder family received a letter from the son of the man who received Jeff's lungs, indicating that he was doing well.
A beating heart
Jodi says meeting the heart recipient would be very special for her.
"When my brother was in the hospital for his last moments, I just had my head on his chest for a full day just listening to his heart beating … so I feel like when I meet him and hear it again, it'll be really overwhelming," she said.
Jodi tattooed a drawing of Jeff's donated organs on her arm. The flowers growing from the heart, liver and lungs signify that the organs are giving life.
She wants the recipients of the organs to fill in the black outlined tattoos with colours they choose.
They've gotten close to finding the heart recipient a few times, she says, only to be disappointed that it wasn't him.
The Loder family is more than ready.
They wait patiently, crossing their fingers that it's only a matter of time before they find the man who has their loved one's heart.
"North Bay has the key to our mystery, to our secret. North Bay has the ability to put us hand-to-hand, heart-to-heart," Pat said.
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