TWO years after Carmen Mark died in Singapore, her heart finally “reunited” with her parents in Penang today.

Her heart was beating quickly inside organ recipient Serene Lee, as Carmen’s father, Mark Kok Wah, 46, listened through a stethoscope.

“Her heart is beating really fast,” he said, listening for about a minute.

Carmen’s heart continued to beat quickly when the stethoscope was passed to her mother, Ariess Tan, 43.

While Kok Wah maintained his composure, Tan broke into tears, telling the media between sobs that finally, after two years, she and her husband were able to “hear” Carmen again.

The “reunion” was held at Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s office at Komtar this afternoon in front of local media and reporters from Singapore’s Straits Times, who had followed Lee, a Singaporean.

The moment Kok Wah and Tan met Lee at the office, all three broke into tears as they held each other. Previously, they had only communicated via WhatsApp.

Also at the reunion were Kok Wah’s sister-in-law, nephew, godmother and Carmen’s godmother, who had picked up Lee from the airport this morning.

Lee, who previously suffered from dilated cardiomyopathy, a heart muscle disease, received Carmen’s heart after the 18-year-old Nanyang Polytechnic nursing student suddenly collapsed and died of an arterial rupture in the brain in July 2015.

The 37-year-old Lee, a mother of three, said she was very grateful for the opportunity to bring a part of Carmen home to her family.

“Since the heart transplant, I’ve always had this yearning to come to Penang.

“For two years, I struggled. It was only recently that I found the courage to reach out to her father. After I sent him my first message, I turned off my phone because I was afraid of how he would respond.

“But, Carmen’s parents have been so welcoming of me since we met. I am very grateful that I found the courage to contact them.”

She learned soon after her surgery that it was Carmen who had given her a new heart, reading an interview that Kok Wah gave the Straits Times. She soon began following him on Facebook.

It was only recently that she reached out to Kok Wah, telling him she was willing to visit him and his wife to let them hear Carmen’s heart.

The “reunion” was also meaningful to Carmen’s grandmother, Lee Siew Ngor, 73, who had been against Kok Wah’s decision to donate her first grandchild’s organs from the start.

She said seeing Lee now, she felt happy that Kok Wah had made the decision to donate Carmen’s organs, a move that changed the lives of people who struggled with illnesses.

“All my friends had been telling me that (organ donation) is a good thing.

“But at the time, I could not let go while my own heart ached for her, although Carmen had told her father when she was still alive that she wanted to donate her organs.

“Now, my son tells me that he will do the same, and I won’t stop him,” she told reporters.

Kok Wah said he told his mother that Carmen was still “around”, living inside Lee, and that she had gained herself another granddaughter.

He said he was glad that Lee was willing to join him and his wife in publicising their meeting to highlight the importance of organ donation.

He said to many in Asia, donating one’s organs was still a taboo, which should be broken so that more lives could be saved.

“I raised Carmen telling her that wealth is not important, as we cannot take it with us when we die.

“I told her that we should leave a legacy by doing good. I guess that is why she was so adamant about becoming a nurse, so she could help people.”

Tomorrow, Lee, along with Kok Wah and Tan, will visit the location where Carmen’s ashes were scattered into the sea near the Penang Second Bridge.

On Sunday, she will join the couple at the “Give of Life” organ donation programme in Penang. On Monday, she will visit Carmen’s alma mater, Penang Chinese Girls’ School, before she leaves for Singapore.

Lim praised Carmen’s family members for their efforts to promote organ donation to save lives.

“Giving life to a total stranger is truly the most noble gift.” – September 15, 2017.