A picture of Calen Grace is the first thing Joe Hansen sees when he opens his wallet.

It's because of Calen, 14, that Hansen, 55, is alive.

The Kentucky teenager accidentally shot and killed himself in 2012 with a gun he thought did not work, according to KMTV.

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Hansen, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was the recipient of Calen's heart.

Mother Dawn Grace and Hansen had been in contact over the years but they never met until Thursday, the four-year anniversary of the surgery.

"Exactly four years ago today Joe gained life and Calen gained everlasting life," Dawn Grace told KMTV. "Calen's happy. Yup Calen's happy."

"I'm happy too," Hansen told KMTV. "We are both happy together."

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Rebecca Ramage-Tuttle, assistant director of the Statewide Independent Living Council of Georgia, says the the DOE rule change is “a slippery slope” for civil rights. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC