Man With Suicide Victim's Heart Takes Own Life
April 26 2008
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A man who received a heart transplant 12 years ago -- and actually later married the donor‘s widow -- died in the same manner as the donor, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Sonny Graham, 69, was found in a utility building in his backyard with a single shotgun wound to the throat.
Graham was on the verge of congestive heart failure in 1995 when he got a call that a heart was available. That heart was from Terry Cottle, 33, who had shot himself.
Grateful for his new heart, Graham began writing letters to the donor‘s family to thank them. In January 1997, Graham met his donor‘s widow, Cheryl Cottle. In 2001, Graham bought a home for Cottle and her four children in Vidalia. Three years later, they were married. In 2006, Graham was reported as saying that when he met her, "I felt like I had known her for years ... I couldn‘t keep my eyes off her. I just stared."
Sonny Graham‘s friends said he would be remembered for his willingness to help people.