DALLAS — Beau Burns was already a hero. But this week a second recipient of his gifts chose to praise that heroism again.
Beau Brosius Burns is the 14-month-old who slipped unseen into a swimming pool in the summer of 2022. By the time his family found him they could revive him. His heart would beat again. But Beau, with irreparable brain damage was gone.
Rob and Jenny Burns made the difficult choice to donate his organs and save as many other children as they could. Last month they met his heart recipient, a little boy named Eli.
"I'm going to be 100% honest with you. I didn't expect us to make it this far if it wasn't for the heart transplant," said Eli's mom April Flores of Glen Rose, Texas.
He was born with a hypoplastic left heart and craniosynostosis. Flores says Eli's health improved immediately after the hart transplant, making him strong enough to survive the cranial surgeries he needed too.
"With a weak heart, there was no way he could withstand that surgery," she said. "They gave me very little hope. And with the heart transplant, everything changed."
"It makes you feel so good that there is somebody living because of him. We're so proud of Beau," Jenny Burns said.
Change would come also for another little boy named Leonel. He received Beau's liver. And Thursday of this week he and his mom Ginamarie Rodriguez got their chance to meet the Burns family too at the office of Southwest Transplant Alliance.
"It's emotional," Rodriguez said after the two moms embraced. "I will be forever thankful for their decision," Rodriguez said.
"This is just such a blessing for us and I can't begin to tell you how much it means," Rob Burns told her. "Leonel has a new chance at life and is thriving and its exciting. It's so rewarding. It's hard to put it into words right now."
"We're really happy," Jenny Burns said. "It's just amazing," she said as an energetic and joyful Leonel played with toys under the STA Christmas tree.
Beau Burns saved a total of three people. An adult female received his kidneys. The Burns family hopes they can meet that person someday too. Because days like this, meeting the people their son saved, helps them heal from the worst day of their lives.
The Burns family told us last month, that organ donation was the greatest decision they've ever been a part of. A little boy named Leonel, now happy and healthy, gave them more proof of that today.