WARNING: The following video will make you cry.
This doesn"t mean you shouldn"t watch it. But it"s worth noting.
Earlier this month, Jeni Stepien got married in Pennsylvania.
But we aren’t saying you will cry while watching her nuptials just because weddings can be emotional.
No, we’re saying this because Jeni lost her father 10 years ago. And a man named Arthur Thomas was given his heart as part of an organ donation.
Prior to exchanging vows with the man she loves, Jeni was given a chance to feel her dad’s heart beating inside of Thomas for the first time.
“Can you feel it?” Thomas asks her in a video filmed by Pittsburgh TV station KDKA.
She tearfully holds his wrist and chest and quietly nods. Yes, she does feel it.
Michael Stepien was murdered in a 2006 robbery when his daughter was 23 years old.
After he spent 24 hours on life support, the family accepted his death and donated his organs, Jeni explained to The Huffington Post.
At that time, Thomas (referred to a "Tom" by the family members) was living in New Jersey, having been on the transplant list for a decade.
“He was going to die if he did not receive a new heart in the next several days,” Stepien told HuffPost via email Sunday.
“Tom received my father’s heart within the next 48 hours.”
After Tom wrote a letter of gratitude to the Stepiens, the families kept in touch via more letters and the occasional phone call.
With Jeni set to get married, it seemed like the ideal time to meet.
“When my fiancé proposed, one of the first things I thought of was ‘but who will walk me down the aisle?’ I could think of nobody more meaningful than Tom,” she said.
“My fiancé suggested I write him a letter; that way Tom would feel in no way obligated or pressured by my request.”
In sharing her story on Facebook, Jeni wrote the following of her wedding:
It truly was the best day of MY ENTIRE LIFE!
To be able to bring my dad home and have him at my wedding was an absolute dream COME TRUE! Not to mention that being married to the best person that was hand picked just for me was beyond words the best thing that has ever happened to me.
I am blessed beyond words to share our story!
Truly amazing stuff.
Watch the tear-inducing aisle walk below:
