A Vancouver Island woman who wants to hear her son's heartbeat one last time is trying to get in touch with the recipients of his organs.

Robert Riopel gave out "bone-crushing hugs" and could get an entire room laughing with just a giggle, his mother Colleen said Friday.

"He was a loving son, devoted brother… He was beautiful," she said.

Robert's life ended at age 26.

He had epilepsy, and last summer suffered a grand mal seizure that led to cardiac arrest. He was put into a medically induced coma, and his parents were told he would not survive.

"They asked if we wanted to be organ donors and donate his organs and we said, 'Absolutely. That is what he would want.' I know he would. That's what he would have chosen," Colleen told CTV News through tears.

Robert passed away the next day, early in the morning.

"Five of his organs were successfully harvested and transplanted, and five people are alive today because of that," Colleen said.

Robert's heart, one lung, his liver and both kidneys were transplanted to patients in need. Colleen was told they would have died had it not been for her son's gifts.

But Colleen doesn't know who those people are. She knows four of the donated organs stayed in B.C. and one went elsewhere in Canada.

Now, over a year later, she's trying to find out more.

Robert's mother turned to social media to try to track them down, posting a message in the hopes that any of the recipients may want to meet.

"I want to tell them about how incredible he was," Colleen said.

And to her, it would mean being close to a part of her son one more time.

"I want to hear his heart beat and feel his heart beat one more time, lay my hand on their chest and go, 'Hey, baby.' That would be my dream."

The privacy of donors and recipients is protected under provincial law, so Facebook seemed like her best chance, she said. Last weekend, she posted a message online asking anyone who received a transplant on Aug. 21 or 22 of last year to reach out to her.

"I would like to tell you about my son. He was a special man," she wrote.

BC Transplant can facilitate the exchange of anonymous letters. A meeting is possible after a year, but only if there's been a pattern of correspondence and the meeting is requested by both sides, so neither feels pressured to disclose their identity.

"Not every person wants to have contact with the other, and relationships between donor families and recipients may be emotionally complex and unpredictable," a spokesperson said. More information is available on BC Transplant's website.

"Protecting the privacy and the identity of donor families or donors and recipients is core to BC Transplant's principles," said Edward Ferre, provincial operations director of BC Transplant.

He said a meeting through the agency hasn't happened yet, but there's been an increase in the number of donors and it's just a matter of time. The organization is currently looking at best practices in other countries.

Colleen says she respects recipients' right to privacy if they don't want to meet up, but she felt she had to try.

She's now a registered donor herself, and is encouraging others to do the same.

Those wishing to join the province's organ donor registry can do so online. The website also allows those who think they've registered but can't remember to double check by entering their B.C. personal health number.

Organs are only taken from donors who are in a critical care unit on a breathing machine, with no hope of recovery.

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Maria Weisgarber