Yesterday, the Mail told the extraordinary story of how a heart transplant recipient in America committed suicide - just like the man whose heart he had received 12 years previously. In another extraordinary twist, it emerged that the recipient had also married the donor's former wife.

So can elements of a person's character - or even their soul - be transplanted along with a heart?

One woman who believes this to be the case is CLAIRE SYLVIA, a divorced mother of one

Here, in an extract from her book A Change Of Heart, Claire tells her remarkable story...

Because I was the first person in the state to have such an operation, there was a lot of publicity, and two reporters came to the hospital to interview me.

Now that you've had this miracle, what do you want more than anything else?

I replied, "I'm dying for a beer right now.

I didn't even like beer

For some bizarre reason, I was convinced that nothing else in the world could quench my thirst.