Story Starters - Transplanted Memories

I’m always on the lookout for interesting plot ideas. Today I saw a story about a heart transplant recipient who took his own life. His donor also committed suicide. As if that wasn’t enough to make the story interesting, both the donor and recipient were in love with the same woman. Doesn’t that make you wonder if the heart itself held the love and tragedy of the donor?

There have been several stories regarding transplants that include more than just organs. Memories, habits and personality traits have been transferred in over 70 documented cases. Just for fun, see if you can find which of these stories are fact and which are fiction.

1. An 8 year old received the heart of a girl who was murdered. After receiving her new heart, the girl began having nightmares about a strange man and told her mother. They called the police and gave a description of the man, the time and place of the murder and the weapon that was used. Everything she told police was verified when the suspect was apprehended.

2. An 18-year-old boy who wrote poetry and songs died in a car crash. A year later, his parents found a song he had written titled “Danny, My Heart is Yours,” that described how he felt he was destined to die and donate his heart. It turns out that his heart was donated to an 18-year-old girl named Danielle, and when she was played some of his music, she knew the words to the song, despite never having heard it before.

3. A man received a heart transplant and developed a love for classical music. The donor was a 17-year-old who loved classical music and played the violin, and had actually died while holding a violin to his chest.

4. A 29-year-old lesbian who loved fast food received the heart of a 19-year-old “man crazy” vegetarian. The woman developed an aversion to meat and married a man shortly after the transplant.
5. A man receives a new heart and is driven to discover all he can about the donor. He’s convinced that the donor was murdered and not a victim of suicide.

For more on Transplanted Memories check out
Part 1

Part 2
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Part 3

Part 4