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Dena Sorge had one of the worst days of her life on Dec. 7, 1987.

That is the day that Sorge, of Tomah, found out that she had lost her brother. Stationed at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, Sorge’s brother, Scott Sykes, was murdered in his home, leaving behind a wife and two young daughters.

20 years later, Sorge finally got a chance to witness the one good thing that came out of the tragic death of her brother.

Gerry Allen, of the Portland, Ore. area, became ill in the early winter of 1987. Allen was suffering from congestive heart failure, and it was very critical. He was told he would need a heart transplant or he would not survive the illness.

On Dec. 9, 1987, Allen received the heart of the 25 year old Sykes. After 20 years of living with a new heart, Allen finally got to meet the family of the man whose heart beats inside of him.

“My mother (Lois Sykes) received a call at her home in Colorado in July, 2007, and was told it was from the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) Transplant Center, and that they were in contact with the recipient of her son’s heart,” Sorge said. “At that point we had to go through a lot of red tape to get in contact with him. It took a while to do that, and once the information got back to my mother, she called him, and spoke to him, and that is where it started. We found out we would be in the Seattle area and set up a time to meet him.”

Since his transplant, Allen has given many lectures about donor recipients. During one lecture, according to Sorge, he was asked if he had ever contacted the family of his heart donor. He replied that he had tried, but could not find contact information.

A nurse in the audience, upon hearing that Allen wanted to contact his donor’s family, found contact information after two days of searching, and it took Allen three weeks to put together the right words to write the letter he sent them.

After Allen contacted her family, Sorge had been able to contact him through the phone and email. But when she finally got the chance to meet him on Nov. 2, it was an experience that she will never forget.

“It was pretty overwhelming, but it was wonderful,” Sorge said of meeting Allen. “We had this connection right from the beginning. Not just because of my brother’s heart, but he is just a great guy, and we bonded. That Saturday, we had a nice dinner together with his wife and my husband, and we acted like old friends who hadn’t seen each other in a long time.”

Allen, now 73, keeps busy in the Portland area. He had three to six rejections of his new heart years ago, but has worked hard to keep his heart strong, and to promote organ donation.

“He (Allen) works out like three times a week, if not more, and he has kept himself in very good shape,” Sorge said. “He has also been a huge advocate for organ donation. He is just a great guy, and I know it wouldn’t come to this, but if I had to interview candidates for recipients of my brother’s heart, I would pick him because he is such a model person for it, and just a great guy.”

While visiting with Allen, Sorge also got to hear the pulse of her late brother’s heart through a stethoscope. For Sorge, hearing her brother’s heart still working and giving life was one of the greatest experiences of her life.

“It was very emotional,” Sorge said of hearing Allen’s pulse, “But it was one of the most exciting things I have ever done.”

Allen is now suffering from another life threatening condition. According to Sorge, Allen has a very aggressive form of skin cancer. Through it all though, he is staying positive, and is enjoying his life that nearly ended 20 years ago.

“We don’t know how much longer he has,” Sorge said of Allen. “I think God brought us all together at just the right time. It is amazing.”

Sorge is the only member of her family who has had the opportunity to meet with Allen, but she says that her family, including the two daughters of her late brother, are planning to meet Allen sometime in the near future. For Sorge, she is glad she got to meet Allen, not only because he received her brother’s heart, but because the man her brother’s heart saved turned out to be an instant friend, and the experience brought her a peace that she hasn’t felt in 20 years.

“I think initially when you lose someone in your family that you are close to, it teaches you not to take people for granted and to live every day as positively as you can,” Sorge said. “This made that all the more pronounced for me. I just have a fulfillment and a peace that I can’t describe after meeting this family. Gerry (Allen) is just a super guy, and there is almost a closure through this for me. My brother would have been thrilled that his heart saved this man’s life.”