When Erin Roberts’ brother Kellen passed away at the age of 22, she and her family made the selfless decision to donate his organs.
By giving his pancreas, kidney, lungs, eyes, skin and intestines, Kellen saved six people.
‘I felt comfort knowing he’d helped so many others,’ said Erin.
But wasn’t to be the end of the story.
Still grieving her brother’s death, in late 2005 Erin and her mum, Nancy, then 51, received a letter. It was from Connor, then 17, the young man who’d got Connor’s heart.
I want to thank you personally for the gift of life, he wrote.
A few months later, Erin and Nancy met with Connor who flew three hours to see them.
Almost immediately, Erin, then 25 and a single mum to Christian, seven, felt a romantic connection to Connor.
‘I knew it was silly to even consider it… He had my brother’s heart!’ said Erin.
But over the years they kept in touch and Connor came to see Erin and her mum.
‘When he visited in 2011, Connor suddenly seemed like a grown man. There was an undeniable magnetism between us,’ said Erin.
A few days after he left, she still couldn’t get Connor out of her mind. Then he called to say he had feelings for her.
‘I felt torn,’ says Erin. ‘Was it weird to have feelings for the man who had your brother’s heart?’
Four weeks later, the pair met up and kissed for the first time.
‘It was incredible to show my true feelings,’ said Erin. ‘For the first time, I looked at Connor and didn’t see Kellen.’
The pair have now been together for six years, happily married for four of those.
‘I knew my brother would have done anything to see me happy. His final gift was saving my husband’s life,’ said Erin.
For more great real-life stories, see issue 13 of that’s life! Australia, out today.
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