Nebraska man donates heart to brother-in-law

OMAHA, Neb. (NBC) - NBC News’ Kate Snow spoke with two families brought closer together by a rare direct heart donation.

Direct organ donation — when the donor chooses who the recipient will be — is very rare, especially for heart transplants.

But that situation played out at Nebraska Medical Center when TJ Dick and his family learned about his fatal brain condition.

“It was a complete global loss of his brain,” TJ’s wife, Leah Dick, told NBC News.

Leah, who works at Nebraska Medicine on a team that facilitates organ donation, said that one of their children asked her if their uncle — her sister’s husband — could get their father’s heart.

TJ and his brother-in-law, were close had been waiting for a new heart — and initially refused. But it turned out that the two men were a match, and the transplant was medically possible — and his family begged him to reconsider accepting TJ’s heart.

He said his kids changed his mind about accepting TJ’s heart. But after agreeing to go ahead with the transplant, the uncle was in a car accident and broke his back in three spots.

After enduring back surgery, he was ready to move forward with the transplant and now has a healthy heart.

Hundreds lined the halls for TJ’s hero walk ahead of the transplant.

“Miracles happen. I’ve seen things in the last year that by no means could be an accident. It’s amazing,” Leah said. “Prayers work, and organ donation is amazing. I can’t imagine if we didn’t have that what it would have been like to lose him without something good coming out of it.”

TJ’s kids are proud of their dad.

“He did everything big.”

“God works in ways that we just really don’t understand.”

TJ’s family urges others to consider organ donation.