It was addressed to the Darwin couple who had donated their deceased daughter’s heart to the Pattersons’ daughter, Breagha.

“We reached out to them to tell them we knew what it was like to lose a daughter,” Mrs Patterson said.

“The courage and mercy it takes to extend that gift (donating a heart) at such a tragic time is immense.”

Twenty-one-year-old Breagha had end stage cardiomyopathy when she became the first Australian to receive the smallest mechanical heart in the world. Then she made history again when she was transplanted with a heart reanimated after circulatory death.

The Pattersons lost 17-year-old daughter Isla to cardiomyopathy in 2013.

Nearly a year on, Breagha is “doing well” and studying a Bachelor of Arts at Canberra University. 

“She’s been given a beautiful life and for her family and friends that’s such a precious gift,” Mrs Patterson said.