According to Buddhist belief, happiness and sorrow exist at the same time. That has certainly been the case for the Ince and Pope families. Last Christmas, Steve Ince and his wife Sue got a surprise knock on their door from local police. Officers arrived to give them the tragic news that their son, Tom, was involved in a serious accident when heavy rain led him to lose control of his vehicle and collide into a tree. Days later, doctors told them their son was being kept alive on a life support machines with a 1% chance of ever recovering. They had to make the choice of hoping for a miracle or taking Tom off life support and donating his organs. They made the hard choice to donate their son's organs.

Roughly 160 km away, the Pope family was with their son Will, age 21, celebrating what would likely be their last Christmas together. A virus had caused irreparable damage to the young man's heart and without a donor, he had only weeks left to live.

“It would have been easier, if I am honest, to say no,” admitted Steve, 48, a window cleaner and whose wife, 47, is a director of a coach company.

“It would have been much easier to say, “No, leave him alone, he’s been through enough. I don’t want you to touch him”.
[caption id="attachment_76061" align="aligncenter" width="634"] Touching: In a remarkable and emotional meeting, Will was able to shake the hand of his donor¿s father and find out about the man to whom he shall always be indebted
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“But that wasn’t Tom’s wish. That was just me as a father trying to protect him, but if we had wavered, there would be people who wouldn’t be alive today.”

The donation of Tom Ince's heart was the immeasurable gift of life for the Pope family. This week, Will Pope met with Steve Ince in a meeting that Mr. Ince said pulled him out of his state of grief.

[caption id="attachment_76064" align="aligncenter" width="634"] The gift of life: Steve with his son Tom, who suffered catastrophic head injuries when he lost control of his car in torrential rain, crashing into a tree
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On The Web:
Steve Ince meets Will Pope, the man with his son Tom's donor heart in the UK

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/steve-ince-meets-will-pope-the-man-with-his-son-toms-donor-heart-in-the-uk/story-fnixwvgh-1226786279830

Steve Ince meets man donor heart
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2525514/Thank-sons-donor-heart.html