Living Transplant: Patient Stories | Organ Donation | Medical Experts

In this inspiring episode, host Candice Coghlan speaks with Megan Owen-Evans, a rare double anonymous living organ donor. Megan has given both a kidney and part of her liver—gifts offered not to family or friends, but to complete strangers in need.Together, they explore what motivates someone to step forward for such extraordinary acts of altruism, the recovery journey, and the myths and misconceptions around anonymous donation. Megan also shares how her experiences as a donor inspired her advocacy work, including pushing for paid leave for living donors through the Living Donor Circle of Excellence.This conversation highlights not only the bravery of living donors but also the ripple effects their generosity creates in workplaces, families, and communities.Episode HighlightsMegan’s journey from childhood experience to becoming a living donorDiscovering the option of anonymous kidney and liver donationWhat recovery was really like after both surgeriesMisconceptions about living and anonymous donation—and how to address themWriting letters to her recipients and the emotional connections that followedHow Megan helped shape workplace policy to remove financial barriers for donorsWhy living donors see their gift as life-changing not just for recipients, but for themselvesTakeawaysLiving donors undergo thorough medical and psychological screening to ensure safety.Recovery from kidney and liver donation is often faster and easier than many assume.Community support and employer recognition play a vital role in making donation possible.Altruism can be a powerful force that reshapes not only individual lives but also public policy.Every act of donation—whether blood, organs, or advocacy—creates ripples of hope.Links and ResourcesClick here for more information about the Living Donor Circle of ExcellenceClick here to watch videos of living organ donors and recipients of living donationConnect with the Podcast or Learn more about Organ DonationClick here for more information about living organ donation.Click here for more information about living kidney transplantation. Click here for more information about living liver transplantationClick here to watch videos of living organ donors and recipients of living donationCentre for Living Organ Donation on InstagramAjmera Transplant Centre on InstagramEach episode, we share patient stories about organ donation from transplant recipients and living donors, along with insights and education from leading medical experts. Whether you’re a patient, a caregiver, a donor, or simply curious about the world of organ transplantation, you’ll hear expert advice and inspiring journeys of hope, resilience, and second chances.About our HostCandice Coghlan is the Education & Outreach Coordinator at the Centre for Living Organ Donation at the UHN Ajmera Transplant Centre. She is also a board member for the National Kidney Foundation and a kidney transplant recipient. After she was diagnosed with kidney failure in her early 20s, she was on dialysis until receiving a transplant from her mother.Have questions? Comments? Ideas for an episode? Please reach out to the Centre for Living Organ Donation at livingorgandonation@uhn.ca. Thanks for spending your time with us.The views and opinions expressed in this episode do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Toronto General or University Health Network.

In this episode, Dr. Marsh explains the neuroscience of altruism, from the role of the amygdala to genetic influences on empathy. Through Dr. Marsh’s donor stories and research insights we explore the spectrum of altruism and psychopathy. She reveals how the amygdala, the brain region tied to emotional responses, plays a pivotal role in altruistic behavior. Remarkably, research shows that altruistic kidney donors often have larger amygdala sizes compared to the average person.Dr. Marsh also reveals the genetic factors that shape empathy and altruistic tendencies, while challenging the misconception that altruism is irrational or abnormal. She contrasts the media’s frequent focus on negative aspects of human nature with the lived experiences of donors, who describe profound feelings of honor and fulfillment after giving the gift of life.Throughout the conversation, personal stories from living organ donors underscore the importance of community support for both donors and recipients. Dr. Marsh emphasizes the power of education and awareness to dispel myths about donation and highlights that altruism is not only a natural human trait but also one that can be nurtured and encouraged in all of us.Links and ResourcesDr. Marsh’s WebsiteDr. Marsh’s TedTalkThe Fear Factor, by Dr. MarshDr. Marsh LinkedInConnect with the Podcast or Learn more about Organ DonationClick here for more information about living organ donation.Click here for more information about living kidney transplantation. Click here for more information about Polycystic Kidney Disease. Ajmera Transplant Centre on InstagramEach episode, we share patient stories about organ donation from transplant recipients and living donors, along with insights and education from leading medical experts. Whether you’re a patient, a caregiver, a donor, or simply curious about the world of organ transplantation, you’ll hear expert advice and inspiring journeys of hope, resilience, and second chances.About our HostCandice Coghlan is the Education & Outreach Coordinator at the Centre for Living Organ Donation at the UHN Ajmera Transplant Centre. She is also a board member for the National Kidney Foundation and a kidney transplant recipient. After she was diagnosed with kidney failure in her early 20s, she was on dialysis until receiving a transplant from her mother.Have questions? Comments? Ideas for an episode? Please reach out to the Centre for Living Organ Donation at livingorgandonation@uhn.ca. Thanks for spending your time with us.The views and opinions expressed in this episode do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Toronto General or University Health Network.

 In this episode of the Living Transplant podcast, host Candice Coghlan is joined by Loi Nguyen; a father, outdoorsman, and all around very positive person. Loi is living with polycystic kidney disease. We discussed his journey from diagnosis to kidney modality options, to the call that came in that changed his life: that there was a living kidney donor ready to donate a kidney to him through the paired exchange program.  We're later joined by Christine Bruce, the Senior Director of Laboratory Medicine at UHN. Not only is Christine the Director of the program, which is incredibly instrumental in all parts of transplant, but she is also an anonymous kidney donor. After reading an email we sent out about Living Donation Week, Christine made the decision that she would fill out her health history form and wait six months to see if she was still passionate about the opportunity to become a donor. And when she decided she was, her path to transplant was unique, as she went from a practitioner to a patient. Please enjoy.   The views and opinions expressed in this episode do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Toronto General or University Health Network. For more information about living organ donation, please visit www.livingorgandonation.ca For more information about living kidney transplantation, please visit: https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Living_Donor_Program/Pages/living_kidney_donor.aspx For more information about Polycystic Kidney Disease, please visit https://www.endpkd.ca/  Have questions? Comments? Ideas for an episode? Please reach out to the Centre for Living Organ Donation at livingorgandonation@uhn.ca. Thanks for spending your time with us.

In this episode of the Living Transplant podcast, host Candice Coghlan is joined by Winne Jerome who talks to us about her journey as a living donor to her sister through the Kidney Paired Donation Program, making that decision after having a premature newborn baby at home. She spoke about how when she found out she was able to donate a kidney to a stranger, so her sister would receive a kidney from a stranger, the excitement was too much to hold. We are later joined by Darlene Jagusic, a registered nurse who spent time supporting the Living and Deceased Donation Program in Saskatchewan, as well as being a critical care nurse in B. C. and Saskatchewan for many years. She is now the Program Manager for the Kidney Paired Donation and Highly Sensitized Patient Program at Canadian Blood Services. We discuss hope for those waiting, the details and intricacies of the Kidney Paired Donation Program, and the gratitude we have for organ donors. Please enjoy.   The views and opinions expressed in this episode do not necessarily reflect the offical policy or position of Toronto General or University Health Network.  For more information about kidney transplantation, please visit: https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Kidney_Transplant_Program  For more information about the Kidney Paired Donation Program, please visit: https://www.blood.ca/en/organs-tissues/living-organ-donation/kidney-paired-donation  To watch Winnie & Fadia's story on Great Actions, please visit: greatactions.ca  Have questions? Comments? Ideas for an episode? Please reach out to the Centre for Living Organ Donation at livingorgandonation@uhn.ca. Thanks for spending your time with us.

In this episode of the Living Transplant postcast, host, Candice Coghlan was joined by Stephanie Dyriw, a living liver donor to her son. Stephanie was put in a situation no parent could ever imagine, when her healthy, three and a half year old son crashed into liver failure with no warning. Within days, Stephanie and the UHN team worked tirelessly to get the testing done in partnership with SickKids to test to find if she would be a match, and thankfully, within mere days, Stephanie became a living liver donor to her son, saving his life. We are later joined by Dr. Nazia Selzner, a transplant hepatologist and Medical Director of the Living Donor Liver Transplant Program at the Ajmera Transplant Centre, and Dr. Cynthia Tsien, Education Director of the Ajmera Transplant Centre. We spoke about diversity, equity and inclusion in transplant, both for professionals and for patients and families. We discussed how equity, diversity, and inclusion in transplant medicine are crucial to ensuring all patients have fair access to life saving treatments, regardless of their background, leading to better overall health outcomes, and how for professionals, fostering an inclusive environment enhances teamwork, broadens perspectives, and improves decision making, ultimately advancing the field and providing more comprehensive care. Please enjoy. The views and opinions expressed in this episode do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Toronto General or University Health Network. For more information about Great Actions Leave a Mark, please visit greatactions.ca For more information about living liver transplant, please visit https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Liver_Transplant_Program  To register for the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Transplant conference, please visit https://deiintransplant.com/  Have questions? Comments? Ideas for an episode? Please reach out to the Centre for Living Organ Donation at livingorgandonation@uhn.ca. Thanks for spending your time with us.

In this episode of the Living Transplant podcast, host, Candice Coghlan, was joined by Manuel Escoto, the Patient, Family, Donor Partnerships and Knowledge Mobilization Director at CDTRP, the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program alongside Sadia Baig, the Programs Coordinator at the Kidney Foundation of Canada, Ontario branch. What is the common thread between the three of us you might be thinking? Well, all of us are not only working in the field of transplant, donation and chronic illness, but we're all living with kidney disease diagnosed at a young age. We speak about being diagnosed with a chronic disease, the mental and physical roller coasters, working in a professional field that we also have a personal connection to, what it's like to connect with others who are going through something similar, and the importance of advocacy and having a strong network of support. Join the three of us as we dive into these topics in a unique episode where the people with lived experience are also the experts in the field. Please enjoy. The views and opinions expressed in this episode do not necessarily reflect the offical policy or position of Toronto General or University Health Network.  For more information about kidney transplantation, please visit www.livingorgandonation.ca  For more information about CDTRP, please visit https://cdtrp.ca/en/  For more information about the Kidney Foundation of Canada, please visit www.kidney.ca  Have questions? Comments? Ideas for an episode? Please reach out to the Centre for Living Organ Donation at livingorgandonation@uhn.ca. Thanks for spending your time with us.

In this episode of the Living Transplant podcast, host Candice Coghlan was joined by Jillian Best, the first organ transplant recipient and one in only 72 people to ever swim across Lake Ontario in all of recorded history. Jillian trained, swam and built her mental fortitude so she could swim across Lake Ontario in 18 hours and 36 minutes. She finished the historic 52 kilometer crossing to raise money for the transplant unit who saved her life and her mother's. We are later joined by Dr. Marie Faughnan, a Lung Specialist and HHT specialist at St. Michael's Hospital. As an avid cycler and physician, Dr. Marie was healthy and ready when a colleague of hers experienced liver failure and was in need of a life saving liver transplant. She asked herself, why not me? She went through the process of going from a physician to a patient and became a living liver donor to save her colleague's life. Throughout this episode, we talk about perserverence, commitment, sacrifice and doing hard things with extreme bravery. Please enjoy.  The views and opinions expressed in this episode do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Toronto General or University Health Network. For more information about living liver donation, please visit www.livingorgandonation.ca For more information about Jillian Best's swim across Lake Ontario, please visit https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/q-a-londoner-jillian-best-relives-her-historic-swim-across-lake-ontario/article_5b953b74-c9eb-5944-bb0f-88add77d74d8.html  To listen to Dr. Marie Faughnan's story and other living donors and recipients, please visit www.greatactions.ca  Have questions? Comments? Ideas for an episode? Please reach out to the Centre for Living Organ Donation at livingorgandonation@uhn.ca Thanks for spending your time with us.

In this episode of the Living Transplant podcast, host Candice, was joined by Dawn Ethier, a police officer and mother of four. Dawn had thyroid cancer over 10 years ago. The cancer was treated, but she was left with hypoparathyroidism, which caused horrible side effects, changed her lifestyle, and took a lot of time away from her family, her work, and her life. Dawn did a lot of research, and with her advocacy and ingenuity, brought the idea of a parathyroid transplant to her doctors, who eventually found Dr. Karen Devon, an endocrine surgeon at UHN's Sprott Department of Surgery.  With only one other recorded case of this exact transplant in scientific literature, Dr. Devon was inspired by Dawn to do homework, connect with specialists around the world, and several years later, cured Dawn's hypoparathyroidism following a ground-breaking North American first procedure at UHN's Ajmera Transplant Centre. This changed Dawn's life, her family's life, and changed the future for patients. The views and opinions expressed in this episode do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Toronto General or University Health Network. For more about Dawn’s story, and the team behind this North American first, please visit https://uhnfoundation.ca/stories/north-american-first-transplant-offers-mother-of-four-a-future-now/ For more information about Ajmera Transplant Centre, please visit https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant Have questions? Comments? Ideas for an episode? Please reach out to the Centre for Living Organ Donation at livingorgandonation@uhn.ca Thanks for spending your time with us.

In this episode of the Living Transplant podcast, host Candice Coghlan was joined by Kelsey Hannah, an OR nurse and mother who went on a journey of health and wellness to lose weight to save her mother's life by donating a portion of her liver to her. We talked about her journey of self reflection, empowerment, dedication, and what it felt like to juggle life while the clock ticked down getting closer to her mother needing that gift of life of a liver transplant. We were later joined by Chantal Wiggins, a Transplant Coordinator at the Ajmera Transplant Centre in the Living Donor Liver Program. We spoke about the processes that donors have to go through to ensure their health and safety, memorable moments in her career, and what it feels like to get to be part of a team that truly saves lives. The views and opinions expressed in this episode do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Toronto General or University Health Network.  To learn more about living liver donation, please visit https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Living_Donor_Program/Pages/living_liver_donor.aspx  Have questions? Comments? Ideas for an episode? Please reach out to the Centre for Living Organ Donation at livingorgandonation@uhn.ca Thanks for spending your time with us.

WELCOME TO SEASON 5! In this episode, host Candice Coghlan was joined by Vanessa Tait, a Cree woman from O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation who put her heart and soul into supporting her father, Kenneth, through his kidney health journey. She uprooted their lives to move from her father's home community of O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation, over 700km north of Winnipeg, to the city to access dialysis, as there were no hemodialysis machines and no capacity to do home dialysis, with the lack of access to large amounts of water needed. While in Winnipeg, Vanessa was his primary caregiver. We spoke about their journey together, the medical barriers they and many other First Nations patients face, and the decision for Vanessa to give the gift of life, a kidney to her father, despite his chances of survival being long so he could live his days out in community, surrounded by loved ones.  We were later joined by Dr. Michael Anderson from the Urban Indigenous Community in Toronto. He is Mohawk Bear Clan and mixed European with family roots in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. He practices surgical oncology in palliative care medicine and is the strategic lead for Indigenous Health at the University Health Network. We spoke about ethical Indigenous community healthcare research partnerships, grief, healing, and Indigenous conceptualizations of death and dying. This episode is dedicated, in loving memory to Vanessa's "daddio", Kenneth. The views and opinions expressed in this episode do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Toronto General or University Health Network.  Have questions? Comments? Ideas for an episode? Please reach out to the Centre for Living Organ Donation at livingorgandonation@uhn.ca Thanks for spending your time with us. *** CONTENT WARNING***  A note to our listeners, this episode comes with a content warning as we discuss death, dying, and palliative care. We also discuss barriers to care for Indigenous communities. This is simply to empower you, our audience, with the knowledge that you may need to make healthy decisions about how or if you should consume this podcast content.  If you need resources or support, you can visit the Hope for Wellness helpline, which offers immediate help to all Indigenous people across Canada, available 24/7 with immediate support and crisis intervention. You can call the toll free helpline at 1 855 242 3310, or you can connect to the online chat at hopeforwellness.ca. You can also reach out to the Bereaved Families of Ontario Organization at www.bereavedfamilies.net or call them at 416 440 0290.   For more information about the UHN Indigenous Health Program, please visit: https://uhnfoundation.ca/stories/fostering-a-healthier-relationship-to-improve-access-to-high-quality-care-for-indigenous-communities/  To watch Vanessa Tait's documentary, Gift to Give please visit: https://gem.cbc.ca/gift-to-give/s01  To watch Vanessa Tait's Great Actions Leave a Mark interview, please visit: www.greatactions.ca  To learn more about living kidney donation, please visit: https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Living_Donor_Program/Pages/living_kidney_donor.aspx 

In this episode, host, Candice, is joined by Melissa Sidhu who works in healthcare, is a passionate volunteer and living liver donor to her brother over 10 years ago. We spoke about her journey as a donor, relationships with loved ones, how to find tiny moments of joy and gratitude throughout this episode. You will also hear clips from members of the transplant community sharing their gratitude. The views and opinions expressed in this episode do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Toronto General or University Health Network. To learn more about living liver donation, please visit https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Living_Donor_Program/Pages/living_liver_donor.aspx To listen to all of our submissions of gratitude, please visit https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13Di_gaucmChOR7tDB873mGsCQAgh9zkD?usp=sharing  To read messages of gratitude, please visit bit.ly/LDW23TX

In this episode, host Candice Coghlan sat down with Afsana Lallani, a cat lover and nursing graduate who made a public social appeal to find a living liver donor to save her life. They talk about being young and living with a chronic illness, facing death and how a supportive community can make all the difference. They are later joined by Dilshad Lallani, Afsana’s mother, caregiver and a pediatric nurse practitioner. She speaks about the family journey in supporting someone on the transplant waitlist, being an emotional support and what it was like being a nurse practitioner living through the process with her daughter on the verge of death.  The views and opinions expressed in this episode do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Toronto General Hospital or University Health Network. For more information about PSC, please visit https://www.liver.ca/patients-caregivers/liver-diseases/primary-sclerosing-cholangitis/  For more information about finding a living donor, please join one of the Centre's free virtual Finding a Living Donor Webinars, by registering at http://givelifeuhn.eventbrite.ca 

In this episode, we're celebrating Living Donation Week. Host, Candice was joined by Sylvie Charbonneau, past president of the Kidney Foundation of Canada, advocate, change maker, and living kidney donor to her son. We were also joined by Dr. Joseph Kim, Director of the Kidney Transplant Program at the Ajmera Transplant Center. We discussed barriers and changes that need to be made to increase access to organ donation as a whole across Canada and how we can support others to receive and give the gift of life. For more information about living kidney donation, please visit https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Kidney_Transplant_Program  For more information about the ODTC Collaborative, please visit https://profedu.blood.ca/en/organs-and-tissues/practices-and-guidelines/current-projects/odtc-projects  If you have questions, please reach out to us at livingorgandonation@uhn.ca The views and opinions in this episode do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Toronto General Hospital or University Health Network.

In this episode, host Candice, takes you behind the scenes of the Ajmera Transplant Centre's 2nd Annual Education and Research Conference, to hear about incredible science, clinical, and research aspects of transplantation. Hear from the following: Samrat Ray: Expanding the transplant pancreas donor, using an ex vivo perfusion model. Adriana Roberta: Determining the impact of certain mismatches, which are located in the DQ Loco and the development of chronic rejection. Javier Solera: The severity of COVID 19 Omicron variant and Omicron specific immune responses in solid organ transplant patients. Lakshmi Kugathasan: Systematic review and network meta analysis research in induction therapy in heart transplantation. Bonnie Chao: Machine learning approaches to processing and interpreting ex vivo lung radiographs and predicting transplant outcomes. Dr. Laura Donahoe: Improving the quality of lung transplantation through a technical skills simulation program for surgical lung transplant fellows.  Christina Lam: Fibrinogen like protein 2 molecule and how it influences the development of thymic regulatory T cells.  Luckshi Rajendran: The Toronto management of initially unresectable liver metastasis for colorectal cancer  in a living donor liver transplant program. For more information about the Ajmera Transplant Centre's program, please visit www.uhntransplant.ca  For more information about Dr. Laura Donahoe's Take-Home Surgical Anastomosis Simulation Model, please visit: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37202320/  If you have questions, please reach out to us at livingorgandonation@uhn.ca The views and opinions expressed in this episode do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Toronto General Hospital or University Health Network.

In this episode, host Candice Coghlan was joined by Justin Poy, a father, entrepreneur, and businessman who has lived with multiple types of renal replacement therapy since the age of 10, including three kidney transplants, hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, as well as home dialysis. Justin spoke about mental health, resiliency, parenting with a chronic illness, and how to appreciate each day. Later we were joined by Dr. Samantha Anthony, the first person to hold the title of Health Clinician Scientist in Canada, Transplant and Regenerative Medicine Center, Department of Social Work, Child Health Evaluative Science Research Institute at SickKids. Together, we explored the medical journey and tools to support children, youth, and families created from the perspective of those who live with it. We also spoke about post traumatic growth and the whole family journey.  For more information about peer support, please visit https://kidney.ca/support  For more information about living kidney donation, please visit www.livingorgandonation.ca For more information about Dr. Samantha Anthony's work, please visit https://lab.research.sickkids.ca/anthony/anthony-lab/  If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to us at livingorgandonation@uhn.ca The views and opinions expressed in this episode do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Toronto General Hospital or University Health Network.  

In this episode, host Candice Coghlan sat down with Tara Lisabeth, who received not one, but two double lung transplants at a young age. She spoke about life with cystic fibrosis, what it felt like to take deep breaths and how transplant gave her the opportunity to walk down the aisle and get married. Later we were joined by Dr. Marcelo Cypel, the Surgical Director for the Ajmera Transplant Centre at UHN and UHN ECLS Program, among many other accolades, who also performed Tara's first double lung transplant. He spoke to us about innovations to expand the donor pool and create more viable lungs for transplant with therapies like light based therapy to inactivate hepatitis C virus, a universal blood type, lung preservation and repair with Ex Vivo, and what it is like leading and being part of a team who has now celebrated the 3000th lung transplant. For more information about Cystic Fibrosis, please visit: https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Lung_Transplant_Program/Pre-Transplant/Pages/cystic_fibrosis.aspx  For more information about the UHN Lung Transplant Program, please visit: https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Lung_Transplant_Program  For more information about the Ex Vivo Lung Perfusion System, please visit: https://uhnfoundation.ca/stories/out-of-body-experience/  The views and opinions expressed in this episode do not necessarily relfect the official policy or position of Toronto General Hospital or University Health Network.  

Host Candice Coghlan is joined by Darryl Wallis, who was diagnosed with Hollow Visceral Myopathy at age one. He grew up in and out of hospitals and unable to eat, but about 16 years ago, he received a multi-organ transplant including a liver, bowel, stomach and pancreas, which gave him his life back. He was able to have a family and become a pharmacist and a few years ago, Darryl's son was diagnosed with the same disease. He also received a multi-organ transplant by the same surgeon, Dr. Anand Ghanekar, who is our expert guest. Dr. Ghanekar's practice focuses on abdominal organ transplantation. He joins us to discuss the rarity of multi-organ transplants and the privilege it is to have the opportunity to restore somebody from certain death to almost a normal life, and the personal connection he has to the success of his patients. To learn more about the multi organ transplant program visit https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Pages/default.aspx  Want to register your consent to be an organ donor when you pass? Want to see if you are a registered organ donor? Visit www.beadonor.ca and don't forget to tell your family about your wishes. You can also reach out to us directly with any questions at livingorgandonation@uhn.ca The views and opinions expressed in this episode do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Toronto General Hospital or the University Health Network.

Host Candice Coghlan is joined by Amber Needham and her living eye stem cell donor, Kathy O'Toole. They discuss how Amber lost her eyesight twice from unique situations. Amber, Kathy and Candice talk about their remarkable journey as Amber went from 2020 vision to blindness and how she was given a second chance with sight when Kathy donated stem cells from her eye. They are later joined by Amber's ophthalmologist, Dr. Clara Chan, who talks about fascinating innovation in science with stem cell transplants, the healing properties of amniotic membranes, and how her work is a lesson in humanity and the strength of patients.  To purchase Amber's book, The Blind Girl Sees, visit: https://www.amazon.ca/Blind-Girl-Sees-Seeing-Through/dp/1039136869  To learn more about Amber's charity work visit: https://uhnfoundation.ca/stories/amber-needham-rides-toward-vision-care-for-all/  If you are interested in learning more about stem cell donation you can visit: https://www.blood.ca/en/stemcells/donating-stemcells/stemcell-eligibility-and-registration  https://www.uhn.ca/PatientsFamilies/Health_Information/Health_Topics/Documents/Living_Donor_Corneal_Limbal_Stem_Cell_Transplant.pdf  Or reach out directly to us at livingorgandonation@uhn.ca The views and opinions expressed in this episode do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Toronto General Hospital or the University Health Network.

Host Candice Coghlan is joined by Ivica, an opera singer who loves baking, teaching others, and above all else, his family. Ivica discusses his journey with kidney failure and how his brother stepped forward to be his donor, giving him back the strength to sing beautifully. Later we're joined by Margot Mitchell, a retired social worker who worked at UHN for over 20 years. She speaks of the importance of good mental health and how we can all move through grief to gratitude.  To listen to more of Ivica's singing, check out @onetenorthreekidneys  If you are looking to connect with Peer Support, visit the Kidney Foundation at https://kidney.ca/Support/Peer-Support  UHN's Coping with a Transplant manual https://www.uhn.ca/PatientsFamilies/Health_Information/Health_Topics/Documents/Coping_with_a_Transplant.pdf  Or reach out directly to us at livingorgandonation@uhn.ca to connect with someone to share experiences. The views and opinions expressed in this interview do not necessarily reflect the offical policy or position of Toronto General Hospital or the University Health Network.

Host Candice Coghlan is joined by Charles Cook, an incredibly brave and vibrant person who is a heart and kidney transplant recipient. After far too many close cases with death, Charles has implemented the life motto of ‘keep bangin’. Charles and Candice are later joined by the one of a kind cardiologist, Dr. Heather Ross who is highly decorated with awards like Canadian Geographic’s top 100 Explorers and the Order of Canada. She talks about football, her childhood, Testing Your Limits and why the patient journey to her, is more than just treating the disease. With special guest Millie, the Myers parrot. To read more about Charles’ journey, visit: https://www.keepbangin.com/ To read more about Dr. Heather Ross & Testing Your Limits, visit: https://uhnfdn.ca/tyl/ For more information about the ACB Organ Health YouTube Channel, visit: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFFz8hoKUxTYltN1aX8nghA  The views and opinions expressed in this interview do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Toronto General Hospital or the University Health Network.