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NC transplant recipient meets family of 19-year-old donor killed in crash

By Stephanie Tinoco
By Stephanie Tinoco

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A stranger became part of a family thanks to their son's life saving gift -- a heart and kidney transplant.

The two families were brought together by 19-year-old Connor McLane, who was killed last winter in a car crash.

But now, his legacy is living on and giving life to another.

(Connor McLane)

Terri Terrant said she waited for a heart and kidney transplant for six months, but the procedure would only work if both organs were from the same person.

Connor was that person for Terrant. He registered as an organ donor when he first got his driver's license.

[ALSO READ: Transplant recipient meets family of organ donor shot, killed in Lancaster]

Connor died in a car crash last winter in Franklin, North Carolina.

"It's priceless to know that he's out there living in you and you're living," mother Cindy McLane said. "It makes me feel so good that he chose this because I tried to talk him out of it."

[ALSO READ: Bride dies weeks before wedding, but lives on through organ donation]

Terrant said despite not knowing Connor or his family at the time, she grieved for the life that was lost to save her own.

"I had to grieve for a minute because the life I was getting was coming from someone else losing theirs," Terrant said. "So, I had to sit there and cry and thank God for life, but then pray for the family that lost the life."

Friday, through an organization called LifeShare Carolinas, Terrant was able to meet Connor's family and they were able to hear his heart beating for the first time since he died.

"He was loud like his mom, so I don't think his heart is going to be quiet," Cindy McLane said.

Before the meeting, the families only exchanged a letter and learned one of Connor's biggest dreams in life had been fulfilled after death.

"What touched me more than anything in your letter was he wanted six children, guess how many I have," Terrant said.

"That's what she said, six, and I was like 'Oh my god, he's living through you,'" Cindy McLane said.

Connor's organs did not just go to Terrant. His family said other organs were sent to patients all over the country.

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