Deb and Paul Coons, mother and stepfather of Eric Frederick, who died in a fatal car accident in July 2007, met with the recipient of Frederick’s heart, 37-year-old Mike Brown, a Portland resident and father of a 7-year-old son, in their Scarborough home Friday.

“It was a surreal experience,” Paul Coons said. “Six months later, here was this guy sitting on the couch that Eric used to sit on, with Eric’s heart inside of him. All of the emotions that were hidden came out. We felt the closeness of Eric’s proximity in the room.”

Brown received the transplant because he suffered from congestive heart failure, according to Paul Coons, and although Brown is taking medication because of the possibility of heart rejection, he is now healthy.

“He said “Thank you,’ and ‘Sorry for our loss,'” Coons said. “There’s not much you can say. We exchanged e-mails and information, and we’ll see what happens.”

Coons said Brown had been a coach on an opposing football team when Frederick played Little Lad football in Portland as a young boy. Brown is also the neighbor of Coons’ brother-in-law.

“Eric lived in Portland. Mike Brown lives in Portland. It’s great that he is a local guy,” said Coons.

Frederick, who was known to friends and family as “Freddy,” died July 11 at Maine Medical Center after suffering severe head injuries in a single-car accident July 10 in Buxton. The driver, Jesse Gay, 23, of Old Orchard Beach, lost control of a car that was traveling southeast on Simpson Road at about 6 p.m. According to a police report, the car struck several trees, crossed the road and landed in a ditch.

Frederick’s driver’s license indicated that he would be an organ donor.

The heart transplant occurred on July 13 at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Brown did some investigating on his own after he received the transplant operation in July, according to Paul Coons. Brown had received information about Frederick’s death when his dad showed him an article in a newspaper about the accident. The timing of the accident indicated Frederick could be the donor.

Brown looked up Frederick’s Web page on Facebook, the online social networking site, that was created by his friends. However, because of the confidentiality agreement with the New England Organ Bank, Brown didn’t attempt to contact Frederick’s family.

The Coons family and Brown signed release papers for the New England Organ Bank last week, enabling donor families and recipients to contact one another.

“Eric’s death was as bad of an atrocity that a family can deal with, and nothing can take that pain away. But to know that his death was not entirely in vain, we’re happy that many people’s lives have been saved as a result,” Coons said.

Frederick’s childhood friend, Chris Coles, who helped to put on the “Fred Rock” benefit concert in memory of Frederick on his 20th birthday in December, is planning to send a check of the total money raised to the New England Organ Bank this week.

“We’ve raised about $1,030 at this point, through the concert and selling T-shirts and through additional donations,” Coles said. “We’re still selling T-shirts from the concert, reduced from $10 to $5, and hope to raise money for a second concert this summer.”

Money raised at the second show would also be donated to another charity, potentially to the Barbara Bush’s Children’s Hospital and Maine Medical Center, which was helpful during and after the accident. Coles said money could also possibly go to support music programs at schools in Portland because of Frederick’s love of music.

“The genuine emotion I felt at the last concert for Eric was something I’ve never felt before,” Coles said. “Eric wouldn’t have wanted us to waste time mourning. He would have wanted us to appreciate and celebrate the time we spent together with him.”

The Coons are content to have met with just the heart transplant recipient, and are not planning to meet with the other donor recipients.

“It was an emotional and tear-shedding weekend. It’s hard to describe something that you would never in your life think about would happen. To have all these things happen upon you is really hard to explain. It was a good thing, though,” Coons said.

Freddy – Eric Frederick at a Red Sox Game