Organ Transplants: The Suicide Heart

Sonny Graham was a resident of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. He had lived there for 40 years, and had been happily married to his wife, Elaine, for 35 of those years. He and Elaine had two wonderful children, Gray and Michelle. Sonny was the director of the Heritage Golf Tournament from 1979 to 1983, and volunteered at the event every year thereafter.

At the age of 57, Sonny Graham suffered congestive heart failure. Doctors told him he had about six months left to live, so when he received a call from Medical University of South Carolina, reporting that a heart had become available, he couldn’t have asked for better news.

In addition to having a new heart, Sonny also starting having strange cravings. Never having a taste for things like beer and hot dogs, he found himself wanting them more and more.

Much to Sonny’s dismay, the identity of the heart donor was confidential. The only fact he was allowed to learn was the age of the donor – 33. But, one year later, Sonny contacted the organ donation agency again, this time they gave him what he wanted.

Terry cottle lived in Jasper County, South Carolina, managing an apartment block when he met Cheryl. She was his boss’s daughter, and while he was already married with two young daughters, he and Cheryl were soon involved in a passionate love affair. He divorced his wife, and nine days later, he and Cheryl were married.

Things were great at first. Terry adopted Cheryl’s two sons, Christopher and Timmy. He and Cheryl had a daughter, Jessica. Terry offered to work so Cheryl could study for her nursing degree. In 1994, Cheryl’s father died, and around Christmas, her mother moved in with them.

Terry earned his GED, and got a real estate license, and at age 33, became a certified emergency medical technician. But it wasn’t enough. Cheryl wanted a more luxurious life than he could provide, and at one point even told him she couldn’t stay married to a man who earned less money than she did. She even took off her wedding ring and threw it over the garden fence.

They agreed to separate, but the next morning, Terry went into the bathroom and shot himself in the head. He spent four days on life support, but the machines were ultimately switched off and his organs were donated for transplants.

As soon as he found out about the man who had saved his life, Sonny Graham began writing letters to Cheryl Cottle, who was at this point, a widow with four children. The two finally met in 1997. For Sonny, it was love at first sight.

Sonny left his wife, and in 2001, Sonny bought Cheryl and her four children a home in Vidalia, Georgia. He retired from his job as a plant manager for Hargray Communications in Hilton Head, and by 2004, he and Cheryl were married; he was 65, she was 38. In 2006, for a story they were running, Sonny told the Hilton Head Island Packet, “I felt like I had known her for years. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. I just stared.”

Things weren’t meant to be though. On an overcast spring morning, nearly 13 years after Terry Cottle had taken his life, Sonny Graham drank his coffee and headed out the back door. He went into the shed that he built, picked up a 12-gauge Remington shotgun he used for quail and dove hunting, pointed the muzzle at the right side of his throat, and pulled the trigger.

Scientists say there are more than 70 documented cases of transplant patients having personality changes as they take on some of the characteristics of the donor.

Another fascinating unsolved mystery is the story of the Man from Taured. The man, having arrived at a Tokyo airport, claimed he was from the country of Taured. A country that did not exist.