Dec 3, 2008 7:11 pm US/Eastern
Patient Recieves Lungs From Church Shooting Victim
Lungs From Good Samaritan Killed By Gunfire Breathing New Life
CLIFTON, N.J. (CBS) ―
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John Muscarella, 21, underwent a double-lung transplant after he was given the gift of life by Clifton Church shooting victim Dennis John.
CBS
He lost his life in a shooting rampage at a New Jersey church. Dennis John died trying to help a fellow parishioner who was the target of a gunman. Now his accused killer, Joseph Pallipurath, is being flown from Georgia where he was captured back to New Jersey to face charges.
And as the wheels of justice move forward, the victim's family has found an extraordinary way to keep faith and his memory alive: through the gift of life.
John Muscarella can now breathe thanks to the lungs he received from John, who was shot and killed inside the Syrian Orthodox Church in Clifton just two days before his 26th birthday. The 21-year-old Muscarella who suffered from cystic fibrosis and thought he was going to die walked out of the hospital after undergoing a double-lung transplant, a gift of life from John
"It makes me feel great, proud to have his lung," Muscarella told CBS 2.
There are things that a mother will never know, but John's mother tells CBS 2 that she is thankful that another young man will have a chance to live because of her son.
"How gifted he was, that's the thing I learned – I had no idea, no idea he was that great," said Aley John, Dennis' mother. "How wonderful it is even if he is not in this world as a person he is living through somebody."
Muscarella was honored to be the recipient of John's gift.
"I'm just grateful for his family and so sad for their loss," he said.
Suja Alummoottil, John's aunt told CBS 2 that the last words that John, a computer system specialist, posted on his Facebook page were: "I do what I believe in, even if what I believe in keeps me from breathing."
John's mother was at the church when her son was shot in the head while trying to stop an argument between the suspect and the suspect's wife, Reshma James, who was also killed.
"I saw him laying down, that's the last thing in my eyes," Mrs. John said.
But the last moments of his life are what she remembers, as he walked past her after getting Holy Communion.
"He just gave that kind of look, I didn't know that was the last look he gave to me," she said.
Despite their pain, the Johns say they pray for Pallipurath.
"I forgive him," Mrs. John said.
John's aunt, who was at the hospital, said she can see John through Muscarella's face – a 21-year-old who now has so much to live for.
"I'll probably go back to school, travel. There's a lot of places I want to see, a whole new look on life. I don't take anything for granted," he said.
John's parents, who now hold their son's gift-of-life certificate, say they want to meet Muscarella.
"We would like to see him directly, we would like to see all the people," said Abraham John, Dennis' father.
By "all the other people," he means, the six others who he says received John's other organs. Muscarella says he will also find a way to meet John's parents too.
Palliparuth is awaiting extradition from Georgia, where he was arrested on charges of homicide, attempted homicide, aggravated assault and weapons offenses.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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