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Suicide claims two men who shared one heart
After Terry Cottle killed himself more than 12 years ago, his heart beat on in former Hilton Head Island resident Sonny Graham.
Grateful for the transplant that saved his life, Graham wrote to thank the Cottle family. Through that correspondence, he met Cheryl Cottle, his donor's widow. Then the unexpected happened -- they fell in love and married.
Earlier this week, the unexpected happened again, when Graham's life ended the same way Terry Cottle's did.
On Tuesday, Graham took his own life at his home in Vidalia, Ga. He was 69.
He was found with a single gunshot wound to the throat, said Greg Harvey, a special agent working the case for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. He was found in a utility building in his backyard and had used a shotgun, Harvey said. A medical examiner in Savannah performed an autopsy Wednesday. No foul play is suspected.
On Friday, a memorial service was held in Lyons, Ga. The heart that gave two men life was finally laid to rest.
THE GIFT OF LIFE
The story began in 1995 when doctors put Graham, who was on the verge of congestive heart failure, on a transplant list.
That same year, Cheryl Graham's first husband, Terry Cottle, shot himself in the couple's Summerville home, said Berkeley County Coroner Glenn Rhoad.
Rhoad said Cottle was on life support at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, so his organs could be donated.
Graham got a call from the hospital when Cottle was taken off life support. He rushed to Charleston, where doctors transplanted the heart later that day. When he was released nine days later, Graham didn't know the donor's identity. He knew only that the heart that saved his life came from a 33-year-old South Carolina man.
Then, in late 1996, Graham wanted to thank his donor's family for their gift of life. He connected with the Cottles after an exchange of letters through the organ donation agency.
Graham and widow Cheryl Cottle, then 28, corresponded for two months and met in Charleston in January 1997.
They married in 2004 -- three years after Graham bought Cottle and her four children a home in Vidalia, about 130 miles west of his Hilton Head home.
Between their previous marriages, the couple had six children and six grandchildren scattered across South Carolina and Georgia.
Graham retired from his job as a plant manager for Hargray Communications -- he was one of the original employees at the Hilton Head branch-- in 2003, and left Hilton Head to move in with Cheryl in Vidalia. Cheryl Graham, now 39, has worked at several Vidalia hospices, and is currently employed at Serenity Hospice.
After Terry Cottle killed himself more than 12 years ago, his heart beat on in former Hilton Head Island resident Sonny Graham.
Grateful for the transplant that saved his life, Graham wrote to thank the Cottle family. Through that correspondence, he met Cheryl Cottle, his donor's widow. Then the unexpected happened -- they fell in love and married.
Earlier this week, the unexpected happened again, when Graham's life ended the same way Terry Cottle's did.
On Tuesday, Graham took his own life at his home in Vidalia, Ga. He was 69.
He was found with a single gunshot wound to the throat, said Greg Harvey, a special agent working the case for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. He was found in a utility building in his backyard and had used a shotgun, Harvey said. A medical examiner in Savannah performed an autopsy Wednesday. No foul play is suspected.
On Friday, a memorial service was held in Lyons, Ga. The heart that gave two men life was finally laid to rest.
THE GIFT OF LIFE
The story began in 1995 when doctors put Graham, who was on the verge of congestive heart failure, on a transplant list.
That same year, Cheryl Graham's first husband, Terry Cottle, shot himself in the couple's Summerville home, said Berkeley County Coroner Glenn Rhoad.
Rhoad said Cottle was on life support at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, so his organs could be donated.
Graham got a call from the hospital when Cottle was taken off life support. He rushed to Charleston, where doctors transplanted the heart later that day. When he was released nine days later, Graham didn't know the donor's identity. He knew only that the heart that saved his life came from a 33-year-old South Carolina man.
Then, in late 1996, Graham wanted to thank his donor's family for their gift of life. He connected with the Cottles after an exchange of letters through the organ donation agency.
Graham and widow Cheryl Cottle, then 28, corresponded for two months and met in Charleston in January 1997.
They married in 2004 -- three years after Graham bought Cottle and her four children a home in Vidalia, about 130 miles west of his Hilton Head home.
Between their previous marriages, the couple had six children and six grandchildren scattered across South Carolina and Georgia.
Graham retired from his job as a plant manager for Hargray Communications -- he was one of the original employees at the Hilton Head branch-- in 2003, and left Hilton Head to move in with Cheryl in Vidalia. Cheryl Graham, now 39, has worked at several Vidalia hospices, and is currently employed at Serenity Hospice.
Let this be a lesson to you!
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