Bride asks man with father's heart to walk her down the aisle

The special moment a bride shared with the man who had received her father’s heart just before her wedding has touched a lot of people online today.

Jeni Stepien’s father Michael was murdered ten years ago and his family made the choice to donate his organs.

Mr Stepien’s heart went to Arthur Thomas, a father-of-four, from New Jersey who had been waiting for a heart for 16 years and was said to be days from dying.

"In order to get to the top of the transplant list, you have to be really hurting," Mr. Thomas said in an interview on Monday.

"Once I had my transplant, I, of course, decided I would write a thank-you to the family."

The two families kept in contact over the years, exchanging Christmas cards, emails and letters but had never met in person.

Last October, Jeni got engaged to Paul Maenner and one of her first thoughts was who would walk her down the aisle.

"I was thinking, ’Oh, my gosh, it would be so incredible to have a physical piece of my father there,’ she told ABC.

"Jeni wrote me a letter and she said ’if you’re willing would you walk me down the aisle?’", Thomas says.

And after running it by his own daughter - who thought it was a wonderful idea - he agreed.

Screengrab/ABC News

Last week, Arthur and his wife made the journey from New Jersey to Pittsburgh to attend the wedding on Friday. He and Jeni formally met one day before and he suggested feel his pulse on his wrist.

"I thought that would be the best way for her to feel close to her dad," Mr. Thomas said. "That’s her father’s heart beating."

At the church, Jeni was filmed touching her hand to Thomas’ chest and the pair later shared a dance at the reception.

"I felt wonderful about bringing her dad’s heart to Pittsburgh," Mr. Thomas said. "If I had to, I would’ve walked."

H/T: BreakingNews.ie