12/12 — Life is a series of triumphs and tragedies and our connections are endless.

Sunday has the makings for a special day at the Meadowlands. The Jets, controllers of their destiny, return home to face the Buffalo Bills as the organization will celebrate its Fan Appreciation Day.

But there is a story that everyone should be aware of before walking through the stadium gates this weekend.

It began on Nov. 23 when Jets fans celebrated the team’s high-water mark, a 34-13 pasting of the undefeated Tennessee Titans. But back in Clifton, N.J., about 25 miles from the Jets' headquarters in Florham Park, something went terribly wrong.

There was a domestic argument inside a church. Dennis John Malloosseril, a 25-year-old director at St. Thomas Syrian Orthodox, tired to intervene and protect a woman from her estranged husband, but both were fatally shot and killed by the assailant.

Malloosseril, who died just two days before his 26th birthday, was a Giants fan who actually had planned to go to a game at the Meadowlands before this violent attack. But as an organ transplant donor, Malloosseril has given a Jets fan an opportunity to live a better life.

John Muscarella, a 21-year-old with cystic fibrosis, was in need of a double-lung transplant. He couldn’t even walk without difficulty and he faced the real possibility of death without new lungs.

Just a day after the shootings, Muscarella received a call, was informed there was a perfect match and to get to Newark Beth Israel Medical Center as soon as possible. The police escorted Muscarella an hour from Toms River and then Malloosseril’s lungs were transferred to his body during a six-hour operation.

After the transplant was complete, Muscarella and donned a green and white Brett Favre jersey and met with reporters. And Sunday he might get a chance to meet Favre because the Jets have named Muscarella an honorary captain.

“John is a fighter,” Boomer Esiason told Randy Lange and me this week on our "Jets Two-Minute Drive" radio broadcast. “He is a huge Jets fan. He is so excited about the honor of being an honorary captain at the Jets game this weekend against the Buffalo Bills.

“And for any Jets fan who goes to the game, if you’re there and you hear his name announced, give him a huge round of applause not only for what he’s going though and what he’s accomplishing but maybe even more importantly for what the donor’s family has done to give him a second lease on life.”

If there’s anyone who understands the dangers of cystic fibrosis, it’s Esiason. After the Jets acquired the blond bomber from the Bengals prior to the 1993 season, he was informed that his 2-year-old son, Gunnar, had the disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of children and has no cure.

More than 15 years later, the Boomer Esiason Foundation has raised more than $65 million for CF and Gunnar continues to fight a seemingly endless battle. He not only achieved of his goal of playing high school football but he also threw a TD pass during the just-concluded season for Friends Academy.

“I hope that there isn’t a time in our lifetime that we don’t have to go through a transplant, but reality tells us that Gunnar someday will be on a transplant list,” Boomer said. “I just hope that it is many, many, many years from now as opposed to like John at the age of 21.”

But Esiason will celebrate John Muscarella’s victory Sunday. Through tragedy, there is triumph and hope.

“Watching John walk out there on Sunday is all that we’re about,” Esiason said. “It’s about giving kids a second chance at life and that’s what we’re doing now.”

In an effort to help other people, John Dennis Malloosseril lost his life. But his lungs have given John Muscarella a fresh breath as the Esiasons feverishly sprint to find a cure.