Anyone who has received or has a family member who has received a donated organ knows: “Information about the origin of those organs is a secret protected by law.”
Recipients of organ transplants will never know who the heart, kidney, or part of the liver they just received belongs to—unless they received the organ from a living relative or had prior arrangements.
Article 4 and Article 11 of the “Law on Organ Donation, Retrieval, and Transplantation” stipulate: The identity of the organ donor is confidential. Disclosing the donor’s information falls within the category of prohibited acts.
This is to ensure the privacy rights of both the recipient and the donor, as well as their families, avoiding potential awkward situations and emotional burdens, such as feelings of indebtedness or obligation…
So, imagine waking up from surgery with a heart donated by a kind stranger; you would have no way of knowing who that person is.
Doctors will not tell you, and the National Organ Transplant Coordination Center will keep that record confidential. The law protects this information and severs all connections between you and the donor.
However, there is one connection that no human document or regulation can sever. A “spiritual” thread seems to link the organ recipient and the donor once their heart is implanted in another’s chest.
Can you imagine? The heart—the very heart of the donor beating inside your chest—might hold memories and experiences of its previous owner. It could guide you, leading you back to the home of its former owner.
This true story is among the most perplexing mysteries of medicine in the 20th century, and even now, scientists are striving to find a satisfactory explanation.
1. A woman received a heart from a donor, and that heart led her to discover the former owner’s home, despite the identities of both parties being kept secret
The story began in 1988 when Claire Sylvia, 47, became the first woman in New England, northeastern United States, to receive a heart and double lung transplant simultaneously.
The surgery was considered one of the most advanced procedures of that time, a medical miracle that inadvertently made Sylvia a celebrity. The press pursued her so eagerly that while Sylvia was still recovering in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), a reporter requested to interview her.
During that interview, Sylvia recounted her battle with pulmonary hypertension, the reason she underwent the heart-lung transplant. At one point, Sylvia lay on her hospital bed, near death, with her chest empty. Both her heart and lungs had been surgically removed to prevent the risk of dying from a blood clot.
At that moment, Sylvia’s life was sustained by an artificial ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) machine while her new heart and lungs were still… in the air. They were being transported to New England on a Learjet, the most modern private jet of the time.
This story was already dramatic enough for a front-page article, showcasing a remarkable medical achievement and a patient saved in a miraculous way, worthy of any publication.
However, this was just the prologue to an even more dramatic mystery that spans two centuries. The mystery unfolded from the last question the journalist asked Sylvia:
– Now that you have received this miracle, do you have any other wishes?
– Actually, I am dying for a beer, she blurted out.
At that moment, Sylvia felt embarrassed. She had not intended to say that, but some force compelled her to utter this response. Sylvia had never been a beer drinker. Yet after waking up from surgery, she had an overwhelming craving for beer.
Not only that, but she also craved Snickers bars, green chili, and McDonald’s chicken—foods she had never liked before.
But those weren’t the strangest changes. The new heart and lungs in Sylvia’s chest made her feel healthier than ever. “I used to get sick frequently, but since getting my new heart, I rarely fall ill,” she stated.
Then, Sylvia’s daughter was the first to notice subtler changes in her mother’s personality. She described Sylvia as having a more masculine gait, appearing more confident, and having a stronger body odor. Gradually, she observed her mother becoming more masculine.
Admitting all these changes, Sylvia said: “Although I still find men attractive, after receiving my new heart, I don’t feel the need for a man anymore.
Instead, Sylvia felt attracted to young, plump blonde girls. Once, she casually invited a new acquaintance to her home. Later, that girl thought Sylvia wanted to sleep with her, leaving Sylvia confused about how she had behaved to make the girl think that.
“My sexual preferences didn’t overtly change—I’m still heterosexual—but something profound inside me has shifted. And I can say that others can feel it too,” she remarked.
After doctors explained her body’s changes, Sylvia understood some of them—like her developing facial hair—as a side effect of anti-rejection medication.
But she didn’t believe that the medicines she was taking post-surgery were responsible for all the transformations inside and outside her body. “I feel like there is a second soul beginning to share this body with me“, Sylvia stated.
2. Searching for the identity of the mysterious “soul”
Receiving a donated organ is not just a purely physical experience for the body. When you remove a beating heart from someone’s chest and place it inside another’s, it is not merely a matter of installing a pump into a reservoir.
In fact, even patients who have received titanium artificial hearts do not experience as complex emotions as those who receive a donated heart. Receiving an organ creates a series of profoundly deep psychological experiences, especially when it comes to the heart, an age-old cultural symbol of human emotions and souls.
Surveys of organ recipients show that the most common emotion they feel is gratitude. This arises from the need to find meaning and connection with the source of the “gift” of life they have been given.
Psychologists state that when someone receives a significant favor, they often feel a strong need to repay or at least understand the person who has blessed them. They want to know the story of the person who gave them a second chance, not only to remember but also to help them face the responsibilities of their new life.
However, accompanying gratitude is an even stronger desire for the true identity of the organ donor. From a psychological perspective, this need can be explained through the concepts of personal identity and self-integrity.
According to German psychologist Erik Erikson, every individual has a deep-seated desire to maintain their self-integrity and a clear sense of “who I am.” But when someone receives a transplanted organ, it can lead to a disconnection in their self-perception, as now their body carries a part from another person.
When the perception of personal identity of the organ recipient is disrupted, they may question their existence as an integral being.
Additionally, Carl Jung’s theories can also explain this phenomenon through the concept of the collective unconscious, where individual experiences can be connected to the experiences of others.
For organ recipients, this might explain why they feel a profound connection to the donor, even though it is a complete stranger they have never met. The presence of someone else’s organ in their body may evoke a sense of an invisible connection, an undetermined but very real relationship in the subconscious.
This imagined relationship creates a profound spiritual bond. Therefore, learning about the donor helps the organ recipient to form a narrative, providing a clearer sense of their own identity while assisting them in processing the emotions related to the changes they are experiencing.
For Sylvia, the woman who received both a heart and two lungs from a deceased anonymous donor, the yearning became even more intense. She likens herself to a shattered Humpty Dumpty, later reassembled by doctors using parts from other individuals.
“The newly recreated person is no longer me“, Sylvia said. “Deep down, my essence is no longer just me.“
3. Dreams Inspired by the Heart
In her memoir, “A Change of Heart“, Sylvia reveals that her journey to discover the identity of the person who donated their heart to her felt almost hopeless. In the United States, laws are very strict regarding the protection of organ donors’ identities to ensure privacy and safety for both donors and recipients.
Federal laws and policies from organizations like the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) clearly stipulate that personal information about both donors and recipients must be kept absolutely confidential. This includes names, addresses, and any other personal information that might identify them.
Organ recipients are often provided with general information about the donor, such as gender, age, and the circumstances of their death, but the exact identity will not be disclosed.
If a patient wishes to express their gratitude, doctors can only guide them to write a letter to the organ donor or their family. An intermediary organization, typically a hospital or transplant coordination agency, will review this letter to ensure its anonymity before sending it to the recipient.
Once again, the procedures are implemented very strictly to avoid violating confidentiality regulations.
Sylvia noted that when she asked her doctor about the heart beating in her chest, the hospital only informed her that it belonged to an 18-year-old young man who lived in Maine and died in a motorcycle accident.
This information helped Sylvia explain subtle changes happening in her body, such as cravings for beer, Snickers bars, and McDonald’s chicken. It might also explain why she became more masculine and was attracted to hot blonde girls.
Psychologists suggest that the information provided by the doctor may have triggered a self-hypnosis mechanism, convincing Sylvia that she inherited certain personality traits or preferences from the donor.
However, it could not explain how she discovered the name of the young man who donated his heart to her, beginning with a dream five months after her surgery.
“In that dream, I was in an outdoor grassy area, it was summer, and I was with a tall, skinny young man with sandy blonde hair. His name was Tim – possibly Tim Leighton, but I’m not sure. I think he was Tim L. We seemed to be good friends.
As I walked away from him, I felt something unfinished between us. I turned back to say goodbye, and we kissed. It felt like the deepest breath I had ever taken. In that moment, the two of us became one forever.“, she wrote in her memoir.
Upon waking from the dream, Sylvia was certain that the young man was the one who had donated his heart and lungs to her. “A part of his soul and personality is now within me“, she told a friend. The friend later suggested they search the news archives from the time of her surgery to see if anyone named Tim L, 18 years old, had died in Maine.
The results were astonishing; they found one individual: Tim Lamirande, 18 years old, living in Saco, Maine, whose details matched perfectly.
Immediately, Sylvia wrote to the Lamirande family to inquire if their son had donated his heart and lungs shortly after dying in a motorcycle accident. If so, she wanted to meet them, as Sylvia was the one carrying the heart of their unfortunate son.
The meeting eventually took place at a theater in Boston, where the Lamirande family resided. Sylvia met Tim Lamirande’s father, mother, and siblings. All confirmed that the physical characteristics of the boy she had dreamed about, his fast food preferences, and his ideal girlfriend type matched perfectly.
When asked again, “How did you know Tim was the one who donated to you?“, Sylvia simply replied:
“Sometimes you just know. That’s what you believe in. Especially if you are someone who believes in spirituality. You cannot see love, you cannot touch it, you cannot smell it. But you know that love is there. It just depends on what you believe.“
In fact, Sylvia is not the only patient to experience memories of their organ donor. A study published in the Journal of Near-Death Studies reported 10 peculiar cases where organ recipients experienced changes in personality or memories similar to those of the donor.
One report described a 5-year-old boy named Daryl, who received a heart transplant from a 3-year-old boy. After Daryl’s successful surgery, his parents noticed that he no longer played with his Power Ranger toys, which he used to love.
Daryl later recounted that he often dreamt of a younger friend named “Timmy”. Timmy told Daryl that he was in pain after falling. Daryl’s recurring dreams prompted his parents to investigate further.
They eventually met the family of the boy who donated the heart to their son. The boy’s name was Thomas, but he was known at home as “Tim”. Tim’s mother recounted that he fell from a window and died while trying to reach for a Power Ranger toy.
Such cases are not uncommon. A study published in the journal Transplantology surveyed 47 organ transplant recipients and found that 89% of them experienced strange transformations in personality.
