Despite the pair having never met before, the meeting was a special one owing to a very specific connection.
The extraordinary encounter allowed Mrs Blake to hear her son Kitt’s heartbeat for the first time since his death in April 2020.
When Mr Blake died at the age of 30, his family made the tough decision to allow his organs to be donated to those in need.
Mr Head, of Corby in Northamptonshire, was one of four people to benefit from the family’s generous decision when Mr Blake’s heart ended his two years on the transplant list.
Three years on and the two families have met for the first time.
Mrs Blake, of Great Yarmouth, said: “I felt such a sense of elation from hearing Kitt’s heart.
“It was bittersweet, as although it came from a tragedy it meant everything to know he has gone on to help somebody else.”
Mrs Blake said her son had not made a decision over organ donation at the time of his death, but that she knew he would have supported her call.
She said: “It was not an easy decision to make – we were going through so much in that moment, sitting there having lost somebody we loved – but once we took the time to think it through we knew it was the right decision.
“Kitt would do anything for anybody and was all about helping other people – knowing what we know now he would absolutely tell me I had made the right decision.”
The meeting was organised as part of Organ Donation Week by the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, where Mr Blake died.
“Tim was a really lovely man and we could tell that he was so, so grateful,” Mrs Blake added.
“We spoke about all sorts of things – how he was and how he was loving life and it meant so much to know Kitt’s heart had made that happen.
During the meeting, Mrs Blake was provided with a stethoscope to allow her to listen to her son’s heart beating once more.
Mr Head, 64, said the meeting was equally emotional for him.
He was placed on the heart transplant list in April 2018, having been diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy.
He had suffered heart failure three years prior though, meaning he had been unwell for five years by the time he received Mr Blake’s heart.
In the period leading up to his heart transplant, the bricklayer also spent eight months being treated in hospital.
But thanks to the Blake family, he says he has his life back.
He said: “It was very emotional to meet Jane and her family and we now get on really well.
“I had previously written letters but I was really eager to meet her and say thank you in person.
“For me, every day is a blessing. When I was unwell, I just wanted to die but now I have my life back.
“People just cannot believe what I am like now compared to how I was.”
He added that he will forever be grateful for Mrs Blake and her family’s decision.
Mr Blake, who lived in Stone Lane in Hingham, died suddenly on Monday, April 13, 2020.
He ran his own company, Agritherm, which produced agricultural heating systems, and was also trained as a plumber.
His mother said: “He could do it all.”
“Not a day goes by now where I don’t think of Kitt,” his heart’s new owner added.
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