Same fate for donor, recipient

A man who received a heart transplant 12 years ago and later married the donor’s widow died the same way the donor did, authorities said: of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Sonny Graham was on the verge of congestive heart failure in 1995 when he got a call that a heart was available in Charleston. That heart was from Terry Cottle, 33, who had shot himself.

Grateful for his new heart, Graham began writing letters to the donor’s family and later met and married his donor’s widow, Cheryl Cottle, then 28.

No foul play was suspected in 69-year-old Graham’s death in Vidalia. Cheryl Graham, now 39, did not return a phone message left at a listing for Cheryl and Sonny Graham.