13 years later heart recipient married widow and died same way

Terry Cottle died by suicide in March 1995 at age 33 in Georgia, leaving a widow, Cheryl, and young children. His heart was donated and transplanted into Sonny Graham in South Carolina. Graham had been suffering congestive heart failure when doctors told him a matching heart was available, about 60 miles away. "I'm sorry the other guy died," Graham said. "But this is my heart now." Friends soon noticed changes. Graham developed a new taste for beer and hot dogs, foods Cottle loved. He began writing letters to Cheryl, the donor widow, soon after the transplant. The correspondence turned personal. Graham left his wife of 38 years, finalized their divorce in 2001, and moved in with Cheryl and her four children. They married in 2004 despite an age gap of nearly 30 years. Graham retired as a plant manager at Hargray Communications in Hilton Head and spent heavily. An old friend later said he "wasn't the happy go lucky guy I'd known all my life." In April 2008, Graham was found dead from a single gunshot at age 69, 13 years after the transplant. Cheryl later said he died deeply in debt, closing a story that mirrored its beginning.