MUSKEGON, Mich. — Nathanael Garza’s heart always put others before himself.
“His family was everything to him,” said Amanda Garza, his mom. “His friends were extremely important to him and his friends weren’t his friends, they were his family.”
Garza says it only made sense that the Muskegon native decided to donate it too when he got his license.
Little did either of them know though that in October 2019, Nathanael would die in a drunk driving crash. He was 20 years old.
Garza says while she was upset over his death, she felt relief as well that his other choice would keep parts of him alive.
“Just knowing that something that was so tragic, so senseless, so stupid to have happened as a demise, that something so good and so positive and so life sustaining would come out of it. It just gave me a lot of comfort, a lot of hope,” said Garza.
In all, Nathanael’s heart, lungs, kidneys, liver and pancreas went to six people.
A year after he died, Garza sent letters to each of them. She soon heard back from the man with his heart.
“I’m breathing good,” said Barney Cotton, Nathanael’s heart recipient and former University of Nebraska assistant football coach. “I work out a couple hours a day. Amanda and her family… blessed me.”
According to Cotton, congestive heart failure put him on the organ transplant list in July 2019, but his new one beats strong.
“It [the heart donation] allows me to still be a husband and to still be a dad,” said Cotton.
Garza calls Cotton the perfect heart recipient.
The two grew close after they connected.
“It’s a really neat relationship,” said Garza. “We tell each other we love each other. I love his whole family.”
They often call each other, but have yet to meet. That will change this weekend at an organ donation event in Omaha. Friday happens to be Nathanael’s birthday as well.
“I’m just so proud of my son,” said Garza. “I just feel like we were all born on this earth for a purpose and maybe this was Nathanel’s purpose - To lay down his life for his brother.”
It’s a special moment each of them eagerly await. They hope it teaches people to put others before themselves.
“Be a donor because in a tragic situation, to give another family the gift of life, what a blessing to that family,” said Cotton. “Hopefully you’ll create a new relationship and be able to live through your loved one through that recipient and his family.”
To learn more about organ donation, click here.
