The Gifted Life: Organ, Tissue and Eye Donation Podcast

Show Notes: Mark Scotch rode a bicycle across the US to raise awareness for living kidney donation and registration as an organ, tissue and eye donor, and now he's right here on episode 169 to share the details of his journey. We welcome Mark along with his wife, Lynn, and his kidney voucher recipient, Hugh Smith, to hear their update. Sara leads a conversation about how pessimism can deter motivation. Then we honor this episode’s hero, Rachelle Leger.

Show Notes: We welcome the Executive Director of The Alliance, Kerri Hobson-Pape, to learn about their 'All Teach, All Learn' style of collaboration to facilitate the sharing of professional best practices related to organ donation and transplantation. Sara leads us through a discussion on the myths of happiness. We honor Ivana Butler and answer your question on episode 168.

Show Notes: We welcome Brandi Zofkie, a director with Lung Bioengineering, for a fascinating discussion about their lung perfusion system and the personal passion that fuelled founder Martine Rothblatt. Hear how their focus on lung transplantation innovation and technology is striving to change the culture of the transplant world. Sara explores how to stop overthinking during our moment for mental health, then we honor hero Shelia Dupar.

Show Notes: Our hosts have a fun and informative conversation with Lana Stevens. Lana is a community educator for LOPA and the co-host for NOLA Hawts, a podcast focused on Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) and all that goes with it. Lana was inspired to use the podcast medium after seeing how The Gifted Life helped educate and inspire the donation & transplantation community. She and her co-host Susan Aucoin have down to earth conversations about CHD and resources available to people who are affected by CHD. You can find NOLA Hawts on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, and Spotify (among others). Sara talks about how to use self doubt to your advantage in our moment for mental health. Camryn Harness is our featured donor hero in this episode.

Show Notes: We welcome Diane Jackson from The Slone Group for a conversation about the importance of equity, diversity and inclusion in organ donation policy as well as in the culture of organ procurement organizations. Nila Schwab, a Provisional Licensed Professional Counselor, offers some advice about the resistance to change and how to recognize when you are being resistant to it. And, we honor hero Dolphie Alexie, Jr. on this episode of The Gifted Life Podcast.

Show Notes: We welcome back Howl the Owl author Brenda Cortez, we first spoke with her in episode 115. Brenda has written a new book, Because of Donation, which is a curated collection of inspiring stories about organ donation. She is joined on this episode by Brittany Elliser, mom to liver recipient Briggs. Their family’s story is one of 25 stories featured in the book. Then we learn about expressive arts and how it can improve your mental health and we honor hero Kara Rodgers on episode 164 of The Gifted Life Podcast.

Show Notes: The gift of life can inspire and motivate people to reach for the stars. In this episode, we connect with musician Althea Grace, whose toddler daughter Lennon is not only a liver recipient, but also her songwriting inspiration. We learned about their story on American Idol, where Althea was a contestant and are excited to share their journey. Then we give tips for conquering post-pandemic exhaustion and honor hero Austin Richards.

Show Notes: We welcome a young man who's transplantation journey has become his professional inspiration. Liver recipient, William Porter, tells us about his road to receiving the gift of life and how it influenced his career path and inspired the creation of Operation Impact. Then we offer some tips for coping with despair, answer your question and honor hero Jonathan Catoir.

Show Notes: Organ and tissue donation for medical research is a way for heroes to contribute to innovation and the search for treatments and cures. On this episode, we welcome Caroline Hare from Autism BrainNet who shares how donors and their families are paving the way for greater understanding of the biological causes of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Then we offer tips for being more self-compassionate, answer your question and honor hero, Jonathan Daly.

Show Notes: We connected with Mark Scotch from Wisconsin, whose chance meeting during a leisure trip to Louisiana, saved another man's life through the living kidney donor voucher program. You don't want to miss this remarkable story and how it led to the creation of The Organ Trail. Then we chat about what true mindfulness is and honor hero Cameron Dice.