Dear Logan Boulet,

I am a two-time heart transplant recipient. I have been brought to my knees twice in my lifetime only to be saved by people like you. You do not know me, nor did you in life. You were not my donor, but I speak to you now as though you were. Today, our Country remembers – remembers you, your teammates who died, and those in recovery – through which the spirit of a nation is brought together. Tomorrow, maybe some will move on but I, will not. I will remember you always, people like you and my two heart donors, with every breath I take, every heartbeat I hear, and through the warm pulse of blood that flows through my veins giving me life.

You are my hero. My donors are my heroes. My donor families and yours are the ones I live for. The ones I strive to live and be better for. The ones I try to figure out how to honour every day, a purpose that fills my waking mind, is in every action I take, and whom I dream of meeting when I close my eyes.

I wish you were here. You, who felt people like me were important enough to save. I would tell you what it means. I would show you what you’ve done. I would tell your mom and dad to be proud. I would tell your family how strong you are – how perfect and beautiful and strong your heart is and, how in the end you became a lifeline, you became mercy – a mercy that I live for every day because you chose to save people like me, you chose to tell the world that my life, that our lives, are eternally connected through our hearts.

Sincerely,
Jillianne Code, Ph.D
Two-time Heart Transplant Recipient
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia
Co-Founder and President, The HeartLife Foundation of Canada