She got a second chance at life thanks to the heart of another, and now Susan Vieira, 64, has vowed to do everything she can to ensure her donor's dreams don't go unfulfilled.
Last September, 21-year-old nursing student Kristina Chesterman died after being hit by a drunken driver while riding home on her bicycle. At the time, her grieving parents issued a statement saying that it was "incomprehensible" to them that the life of a "beautiful, talented person who had so much to contribute to our world" had been cut short in such a terrible way, per an earlier KGO-TV report.
But even after her death, Chesterman's legacy lives on -- both in the hearts of those who knew and loved her, and in the lives of those she's since saved. Chesterman had opted to be an organ donor, and thanks to that choice, at least five people have been gifted a new chance at life.
One of those people is Susan Vieira, who received Chesterman's heart. Vieira had suffered from congestive heart failure and would've likely died without a transplant. "I never dreamed in my life ... how they would remediate my heart," she told ABC-affiliate KRCR-TV.
Now, Vieira -- who is touch with Chesterman's family -- says she wants to do something to honor the selfless woman who saved her.
According to KRCR, she's promised to do all she can to fulfill the bucket list that the young woman had made for herself when she was alive. "She wanted to fly a plane, she wanted to travel extensively and she wanted to ride a camel," Chesterman's mom told the news outlet.
According to an earlier San Jose Mercury News report, the young woman's bucket list also included running through a poppy field and riding in a hot-air balloon.
Vieira, who is still in recovery, told KRCR that "Kristina's waiting there to advise [her]" once she's up to the challenge.
According to the Mercury News report, one of the other patients saved by Chesterman's selflessness is a baby boy named Jayden, who received part of Chesterman's liver.
"I believe Kristina was here to really make an impact, and that goodness will ripple forever," baby Jayden's grandmother told the news outlet.
To find out how you can be an organ donor in the U.S., click here.