Rebekah Brown celebrates Thanksgiving in honor of her late brother, Joshua. She lost her 21-year-old brother because of a car accident last 2012.
This time, she wants to honor her brother in a different way. Brown shared a meal with the two men who were recipients of her brother's body parts, Inside Edition reports.
"I feel like there's nothing more powerful than to give the gift of life back," Brown told Inside Edition.
It is noted that Richard Norris, one of the recipients, had the first full face transplant in the US. In 1997, he had to go through the face transplant because of a shotgun incident. The 2012 face transplant was remarkable. Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez led his team at the University of Maryland Medical Center in a 36-hour operation. His team was composed of 150 medical practitioners and nurses aiding him in the transplant of bone skin as well as facial muscles.
"It felt like someone was squeezing my heart every time I'd look at Richard." Brown tells Inside Edition. She added, "His lips, his bone structure, his eyebrows, his hair, everything. It's like I'm looking at my brother's face."
Brown's family also wanted to do more. The recipient of Joshua's heart, John Jenkins, was in a critical condition during that time. He suffered from a heart failure and was in dire need of a heart transplant.
"We found out that he also had had a son who passed away when he was 21, the same age that my brother was when he passed away our hearts went out to him," Brown said.
Joshua must be really pleased with his family as it appears that giving life and having compassion runs in Brown's family. That was when she and her parents had to make the decision to donate her brother's heart.
