A bride-to-be in Alaska has received the surprise of her life - meeting the young man who received her son's heart.
In 2015 Becky's son Triston died at just 19 years old. While devastated, the family were comforted by the fact his death meant his organs could save five other lives.
Last week Groom Kelly Turney reached out to 21-year-old Jacob Kilby the man carrying Triston's heart to see if he'd attend their wedding.
During the ceremony Turney stopped proceedings to introduce Kilby to Becky.
The heartwarming moment was captured by photographer Amber Lanphier of Love Adventured.
In a post to Facebook, Love What Matters posted the images online, which have since gone viral.
"I knew about this surprise but nothing prepares you for the beauty of this moment," Amber wrote in the post.
In one especially touching image, Becky puts a stethoscope to Jacob's chest to listen to her son's heartbeat.
If the photos are any indication, there wasn't a dry eye in the house as Becky was able to reconnect with a bit of her son.
Speaking to WSB-TV, Becky said she was overwhelmed with joy when she was introduced to Jacob.
"I couldn't wrap my arms around him fast enough."
"You can't put it into words. It's immense joy. That's the coolest thing about the pictures. If you look at the pictures, it says it all. Total surprise, complete joy. My world was as complete as it could be.
"That whole day, I couldn't understand why I couldn't stop crying," Becky says of the hours leading up to the ceremony. "Now I know why. My son's presence was there."
On her Facebook page, the bride wrote that Jacob's presence was the "most amazing surprise."
"Hands down the best gift. Most amazing surprise ever!" she wrote. "Thank you for caring for Triston's heart. Thank you for being here!"
The original post has been shared more than 86,000 times and received 227,000 reactions.
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This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission.
