The Boy Who Gave His Heart Away cover art

The Boy Who Gave His Heart Away

A Death That Brought the Gift of Life

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The Boy Who Gave His Heart Away

By: Cole Moreton
Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
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About this listen

‘Gripping … so powerfully emotional that at times I had to put it down to wipe my eyes’
Mail on Sunday

‘How do you say thank you to someone for giving you their heart? It is the greatest gift a person can ever give.’

Marc is a promising young footballers of 15, growing up in Scotland. A few hundred miles away in England, Martin is a fun-loving 16-year-old. Both are enjoying their summers when they are suddenly struck down by debilitating illnesses. Within days, the boys are close to death.

Although their paths have never crossed, their fortunes are about to be bound in the most extraordinary, intimate way. One of them will die and in doing so, he will save the other’s life.

This is a deeply powerful and dramatic story. It is extremely rare for the family of a donor to have any personal contact with the recipient of their loved one’s organ. Yet remarkably, the mothers of these two boys meet and become friends, enabling the extraordinary, bittersweet moment in which a mother who has lost her son meets the boy he saved. Reaching out and placing her palm flat against his chest, she feels the heart of her son beating away inside another. Her boy, the boy who gave his heart away.

©2017 Cole Moreton (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers Grief & Loss Medical Medicine & Health Care Industry Parenting & Families Personal Development Professionals & Academics Relationships Surgery

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Critic reviews

"An extraordinary true story told by a wonderful writer. I wish I could produce something as moving, engaging and beautiful as this." (Bryony Gordon)
All stars
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First of all I must begin by congratulating the narrator . One of the best I have come across so far on Audible,

Now to the book. Oh my goodness, the bravery of the families , the incredible work of the doctors and nurses all told with sensitivity and genuine emotion.

I first heard Cole Moreton on the radio and immediately purchased the book. It was hard to listen to at times , but compared to what the families went through ...

I am full of admiration for Sue, for Linda , for their families and thank them for sharing their experiences. Organ donation is a subject that is never going to be an easy one to tackle, and I really hope that this helps others should they be in a situation where the death of their loved one might just give another family’s loved one a chance .

Thank you for sharing your story.

A must read/ listen to

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At times I thought the story was slow and there was too much detail. I wanted to skip to a happy ending. But I stayed with it and became absorbed in the story. I liked Morton’s use of the words of the protagonists and could hear their voices alongside his narration.
I’m not sure there was a happy ending but there was enough love to mean it wasn’t tragic.

A moving story

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This true story is unbelievably close to my heart as.i have been through something similar.

Heartfelt and touching

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This book was brilliantly written and read. It's a great read for any one who is contemplating the issue of organ donation. I loved that the human aspects of the book's characters was the main focus, it put the whole question of organ donation into perspective. The audio version was particularly great.

Brilliant

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Listened to the book over the last couple of days. Quite simply outstanding. An amazing story told about 2 families brought together by bad luck. The most powerful and heart wrenching stories I have read.

Outstanding

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