Share Your Spare
Guest User
Kidneys continue to have the longest wait list (over 95,000 in the US) and the longest wait time (5-7 year average) of all organs. Despite increases in transplants from deceased donors each year, there just aren’t enough to meet the demand!
We have been fortunate to have several living donors/recipients on The Gifted Life (episodes 13, 63, 69, 76), but the latest one (episode 87) motivated our podcast team on a different level.
It all started with a voicemail from Jennifer David, thanking us for creating The Gifted Life, because she was looking for information about living donation.
Living Donor, Jennifer David
She was inspired by the stories she heard and was scheduled to donate her kidney the next day! We interviewed her a couple months later and found out that she was an altruistic donor, which means she didn’t even know who she was donating to, only that she was going to help someone get another chance at a healthier life. She said her only regret was that she didn’t have another to give, and sent us a picture of her wearing a t-shirt that read “Share Your Spare.”
Sometimes I wonder if we are just “preaching to the choir” and only donor families and recipients are listening to the podcast. But this message confirmed our hopes for this medium. We wanted to create a library of educational facts and inspiring stories that someone could listen to at any time, from the comfort of their home, on their commute, or perhaps, when they are feeling alone and just need to hear that someone else has walked a path similar to theirs.
We end each episode asking our listeners to do something they wouldn’t normally due to help Make Life Happen - thank you, Jennifer, for doing just that!
written by Kirsten Heintz
You don’t have to be a living donor to help Make Life Happen - rate and share the podcast so together we can reach more people!
Referenced Episodes:
Another suggestion for information about living donation shared by our guest on The Gifted Life, Jennifer David, is to watch a 30 minute documentary she found on the Living Donation California website. The documentary is called The Chain.