Family of deceased teen Jermaine Cullum meets those saved by his organ donation

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Jermaine Cullum, 16, lost his life a year ago after suffering a heart attack on a basketball court.

Now, his parents are having an emotional gathering with the three people who received life-saving organ donations from the teen.

Tarcia Patton and Jermaine Cullum Sr. have been waiting for this day for a year.

"I couldn't wait to meet them because they're a part of my son and so now they're a part of me," Patton said.

Thursday was the first time this mother and father would meet the strangers saved by their son's gift of life.

"It was amazing to see everybody happy, getting a second chance at life. That's lovely," Cullum Sr. said.

In May of 2014, while playing basketball, Cullum Jr. suffered a heart attack and later died.

Amid their incredible grief, his parents found some comfort by honoring the teen's wish to help others by allowing him in death to be an organ donor.

"We helped re-write the end of his story so it wasn't the tragic loss of a young man, it was that start of some new stories," said Kevin Cmunt, Gift of Hope president and CEO.

Celia Fabre is one who received a life-saving organ donation. She got Cullum's right kidney and liver. Fabre suffers from a rare genetic disease that also claimed the life of her brother 17 years earlier.

"He gave me the chance, the second chance to be with my family," Fabre said.

Indiana resident and special education teacher Karen Emerich received both of Cullum's lungs. Her youngest daughter says her mother now lives without fear.

"It was very hard to watch her at her weakest," said Stephanie Emerich, Karen's daughter.

Diagnosed with diabetes as a teen, Tarik Causay says the transplant operation of the teen's pancreas and left kidney let him live to see the birth of his son.

"I always wanted to meet the family of the person that's in me. He's gone but he's not," Causay said.

The generosity forever links those here as a family forged from tragedy.

Cullum's family continues to encourage those eligible to become organ donors. According to the Gift of Hope organization, more than 300 people registered for transplants in Illinois will die in 2015 while waiting for life-saving transplants.