New Jersey widow Mari DiNardo recently met the man who received her late husband’s heart.
New Jersey widow Mary DiNardo recently met the man who received her late husband’s heart.
In 2009, at the age of 37, detective Marc DiNardo was killed in the line of duty during a shootout with two armed robbers.
Despite numerous efforts to save him, DiNardo was declared dead and his organs harvested a few days after the deadly standoff.
His heart was given to Don Zolkiwsky, a decorated Vietnam war veteran, whose own had succumbed to a virus.
Over the years Zolkiwsky’s developed a deep sense of connectedness with his donor, to the point of having dreams about his violent death.
“Saying ‘thank you’ in person,” he said before the meeting, “will lift some of the guilt that I carry as the survivor.”
Mary DiNardo was just eager to hear her husband’s heartbeat again.
She feels that as long as his heart is beating, a part of him is still alive.
Even though it was no long in her husband’s body, she sees it as the heart that fell in love with her.
