Organ Donation Recipient Surprises Donor’s Family with Super Bowl Tix

[Viktor]

Schultz’s family and Jones shared an emotional hug upon meeting, and the tears later flowed when Micheline and her two daughters, Mikaela and Mia, listened with a stethoscope to Tom’s heart beating inside of Jones.


The group met Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins in the locker room, and later boarded a bus for U.S. Bank Stadium. The group was given a private tour by Vikings Hall of Fame guard Randall McDaniel.


Perhaps the most moving moment was a visit to the stats booth, where Tom could have worked for Vikings home games at the venue that opened in 2016.


“It was a tender and beautiful day,” Schultz said.


But even before they met, Schultz said she felt connected to Jones through little idiosyncrasies that were related to Tom.


“Tom absolutely loved the water,” Schultz said. “He was a busy person in the city, but he wanted nothing more on the weekend than to go to the cabin and walk on the dock where he could literally leave the world behind. His dream house would be anywhere by the water.”


Jones, of course, lives in Bermuda — a small island that is more than 1,000 miles northeast of Cuba.


Plus, Schultz senses Tom’s giving spirit in Schultz. When the two met in June, Schultz mentioned that Mikaela was moving to Texas in July and Mia was going to be looking at colleges in the fall.


Jones kept those nuggets in mind, emailing Schultz after each event and checking in to see how they had gone.


“I started sobbing because it’s exactly how Tom would say it. It is the wildest thing … and the sweetest thing,” Schultz said. “It stirs up a lot of emotions, but at the same time, it stirs up this grace, and it’s impossible to be stuck in the grief.”


The events of the past five years led to Sunday, where the group’s story was highlighted at halftime for the NFL’s My Cause My Cleats initiative.


Jones spoke glowingly of the chance to have people learn about Tom and the group’s story.


“The love we share, it’s unbelievable,” said Jones, who became a Vikings fan to honor Tom’s passion for the Purple. “It was my first Vikings game. But it won’t be my last, let me tell you.”


There was hardly a dry eye in the stadium by the time a video describing the journey was done with.