Alyssa Sandeen, right, had her heartbeat recorded at Mayo Clinic Health System recently. The Mankato native, who received a heart transplant in 2013, gave a stuffed bear with the recording inside to the family of the woman whose heart she received.

MANKATO, Minn. — Jennifer Leekley wanted to feel her daughter Kate’s heartbeat again.

It was one of the things she most looked forward to about meeting Alyssa Sandeen, who received Kate’s heart in a transplant after Kate died in a crash with a drunk driver in 2013.

The two met for the first time recently before walking in honor of Kate at a Mothers Against Drunk Driving fundraiser in Illinois.

Leekley not only got to feel Kate’s heartbeat again, but she now can hear it anytime.

Sandeen recorded her heartbeat Friday at Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato. Then, she inserted the tape into a teddy bear as a gift to the Leekleys.

“She can hold her little angel close to her, sleep with her at night,” Sandeen told the Mankato, Minnesota Free Press.

Her stop at Mayo came a few hours before she and her parents headed to Illinois. They expected it to be an emotional trip.

It’s been an emotional summer for all involved. The families had their first contact with each other in recent weeks.

Now Sandeen’s mother, Lisa, is in touch with Leekley on a daily basis. They’ve all gotten to know each other from afar. Meeting was the next step, which included the surprise gift.

Sandeen’s father, Christopher, came up with the idea. The family then worked with Mayo on the project.

At Mayo, Sandeen was hooked up to a specialized stethoscope while staff placed the recording device next to a speaker to catch the amplified heartbeat. The staff said they toyed with the setup the day before, but it took some trial and error for the faint heartbeat to be clearly captured.

Eventually, a recording proved audible enough. A relieved smile spread across Sandeen’s face.

“She’ll be able to hear her daughter’s heartbeat whenever she wants,” she said afterward.

Her mother looked on throughout the process. As a parent, Lisa Sandeen said the bear would mean so much to her if she and Leekley swapped places.

“Just to have this heartbeat with you at all times, you still have that piece of your daughter with you,” she said.

As she thought about giving the bear to Leekley, Sandeen started tearing up thinking about what it would all mean.

“We’re going to bawl together,” Sandeen said. “We’re going to hug and it’s going to be both sad and happy tears at the same time.”

Arola writes for the Mankato, Minnesota Free Press.