Bride walks down the aisle with boy who received her late son’s donated heart
APEX, N.C. (WRAL) - A 7-year-old boy from North Carolina gave a bride a bittersweet wedding gift by carrying a piece of her late son up the aisle, beating in his chest.
Inside 7-year-old Saleh Ahmad’s chest beats a heart donated by 4-year-old Myles Godfrey, who was killed in a car crash two years ago. Myles’ mother, Kaci Wilson, invited Saleh and his family to her wedding in Georgia over the weekend. The families met in person for the first time before the ceremony, and Wilson listened to Saleh’s heartbeat with a stethoscope.
“That’s all I was listening to,” Wilson said. “I didn’t hear anything anyone was saying. I didn’t hear anything other than that. It was such a remarkable experience I can’t even put it into words. It was just insane to hear his heartbeat again.”
On April 18, 2023, Wilson and her sons were pulling into their driveway when someone hit their car from behind, going 60 miles per hour. She says Godfrey was left with a major brain injury.
“He was in the hospital for a few days, and then, we had to make a decision to take him off of everything,” Wilson said. “We know if it was his decision, he would want us to help somebody else.”
Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, Saleh had been on the heart transplant waiting list for three years. His mother, Yara Ahmad, says her son was born with a serious heart condition.
“We just had faith and prayers that something might change the situation ‘til April 2023 when we got the heart transplant from Myles,” Ahmad said.
After the transplant, Saleh started going to school and is now playing like other kids.
“Before, he was always in the hospital, not living as any normal child, but now, his life just started,” Ahmad said. “It changed our whole family… We are grateful."
The two mothers have been bound together ever since, texting and calling each other over the years. Wilson says she wanted to surprise her family by inviting Saleh to her wedding. She and the 7-year-old walked down the aisle hand-in-hand.
“Now, I consider us all a family,” Wilson said. “Allowing that to happen on our part is just amazing because not everybody gets this experience.”
“She lost her son but found him in a heartbeat,” Ahmad said. “Myles lives within Saleh, and I always tell Kaci, ‘Myles is OK. As long as Saleh is OK, Myles is OK.’”
Both mothers hope their story encourages others to become organ donors.
“I hope this is a true inspiration to everybody, realizing that good can come out of it,” Wilson said. “It’s not just all sorrow. You get to see your loved one live through someone else. I hope everyone considers it after seeing our story.”
Wilson plans to bring her family to North Carolina to visit the Ahmads again this summer.
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