The Gifted Life: Organ, Tissue and Eye Donation Podcast

The Gifted Life: Organ, Tissue and Eye Donation Podcast

Improve your knowledge about organ, tissue and eye donation as your hosts Lori Steele, Nila Schwab, and Joey Boudreaux have entertaining and informative conversations about donation. We address donation in the news, myths about donation, what's new in the community, new technologies, special guest interviews and much more.

Episodes

December 5, 2025 32 mins
The Gifted Life Podcast
Show Notes: We welcome Beth Sparks, mother of donor hero Clayton Sparks, to share more about her son whose legacy continues to touch so many lives. Clayton, became an organ donor at the age of 24, and was the inspiration for the children’s book Clayton Sparks Leaves His Mark, written by Abby Gray...
Mark as Played
The Gifted Life Podcast
Show Notes: On this episode of The Gifted Life Podcast, we welcome Abby Gray, author of Clayton Sparks Leaves His Mark and Impatiently Waiting for Miracles. In January 2017, Abby began writing as a therapeutic outlet while she and her husband, Reid, faced serious health challenges. Four years lat...
Mark as Played
The Gifted Life Podcast
Show Notes: On this episode we shine a spotlight on an incredible woman whose story combines generosity and advocacy with a touch of pageant sparkle. Jeri Gill, an altruistic living kidney donor, was recently crowned 2025 Ms. Senior World Louisiana in the 60’s age category. Jeri's platform is org...
Mark as Played
September 5, 2025 26 mins
The Gifted Life Podcast
Show Notes: On this episode of The Gifted Life Podcast we welcome Miss Louisiana’s Teen 2025, Virginia Kirkpatrick. 17 year old Virginia is an impressive leader on every level, but what really stood out is her Community Service Initiative to educate and encourage registration as an organ and tiss...
Mark as Played
August 1, 2025 37 mins
The Gifted Life Podcast
Show Notes: On this episode, we sit down with donor mom and author Maggie Fanara, whose debut book is titled Beautifully Broken. Maggie opens up about the lies she once believed about herself, and how God met her in the depths of abuse, heartbreak, and loss to rewrite her story. Maggie invites us...
Mark as Played
The Gifted Life Podcast
Show Notes: In this episode, we spotlight a groundbreaking advancement in transplantation offering new hope to patients with stage 4 colorectal cancer. At Northwestern Medicine, surgeons successfully split a donor's liver to save two lives. One portion of the donor's liver went for a traditional ...
Mark as Played
June 6, 2025 39 mins
The Gifted Life Podcast
Show Notes: On this episode of The Gifted Life Podcast, we sit down with Robert Boudwin who's a man known for his larger-than-life presence both on and off the court as the Houston Rockets’ beloved mascot “Clutch the Rocket Bear”. However, Robert’s story goes far beyond entertainment. He’s also a...
Mark as Played
May 2, 2025 25 mins
The Gifted Life Podcast
Show Notes: We’re joined by Ron Chapman — lung transplant recipient, author, and passionate advocate for those awaiting a second chance at life. In a powerful conversation, Ron shares his deeply personal story of resilience, fear, hope, and gratitude. Through his heartfelt discussion with our hos...
Mark as Played
April 4, 2025 35 mins
The Gifted Life Podcast
Show Notes: For our milestone 250th episode, we bring you an inspiring conversation with Louis Smith, an Army veteran and heart transplant recipient, alongside Dr. Benjamin Bryner, a cardiac surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital who saved more than just his life. After serving in the military...
Mark as Played
March 7, 2025 34 mins
The Gifted Life Podcast
Show Notes: In this powerful episode, we sit down with Todd and Carrie Hensel. Todd underwent a two day surgery which included a seven-organ transplant, during which he died five times. Fate had other plans and organ donation gave Todd a second chance at life. Now, Todd and Carrie live on a peace...
Mark as Played
The Gifted Life Podcast
Show Notes: In September of 2024, 4 women kidney donors, over 4 days, biked 444 miles to promote living organ donation. We’re excited to have Diane Mills, one of the four women behind the event, join us to share the story of how it all began and the incredible success it achieved. She’ll talk abo...
Mark as Played
The Gifted Life Podcast
Show Notes: On this episode, we welcome Deputy Kim Bergeron of the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, an extraordinary individual who serves, protects and saves lives. Deputy Bergeron shares her inspiring story as a living kidney donor to her high school friend, and her recent experience as a s...
Mark as Played
December 6, 2024 31 mins
The Gifted Life Podcast
Show Notes: We welcome Angie Mikkelson, a heart transplant recipient who’s galloping into her second chance at life. Angie shares her incredible journey from living with a lifelong heart defect to receiving the lifesaving gift of a heart at 25 years old. She shares how the generosity of her donor...
Mark as Played
November 1, 2024 44 mins
The Gifted Life Podcast
Show Notes: In this episode, we explore the journey of living with kidney disease. We talk to Pesh Patel, who has transformed a life altering diagnosis into his mission. Pesh shares his personal story and how he founded A Kidney Life, which includes a podcast, Talk Kidney to Me. This podcast is d...
Mark as Played
The Gifted Life Podcast
Show Notes: Dr. Satish Nadig with Northwestern Medicine and kidney transplant recipient, John Nicholas, join us to share details about a medical breakthrough in kidney transplantation. The AWAKE Kidney Program (Accelerated Surgery Without General Anesthesia in Kidney Transplantation) is a new app...
Mark as Played
The Gifted Life Podcast
Show Notes: We welcome Casana Fink, an advocate for organ and tissue donation, nonprofit founder, entrepreneur, author, Miss Tampa and at the release of this episode, the current Miss Florida, who will be competing in the Miss America competition next year. As the daughter of a liver recipient, C...
Mark as Played
August 9, 2024 35 mins
The Gifted Life Podcast
Show Notes: In this community partnership episode, we dive into the topic of school safety and gain important insights from Louisiana Center for Safe Schools Director, Trevis Thompson. Trevis explores the strategies, practices and programs that support school communities and their safety partners...
Mark as Played
The Gifted Life Podcast
Show Notes: Join us for an inspiring episode as we chat with nurse Lori Vaughn and teen Lauren Swanson. Lauren’s battle with a rare disease led to her needing a kidney transplant. One day, Lori stumbled upon a social media plea for a living donor for Lauren. Even though she had no direct connecti...
Mark as Played
The Gifted Life Podcast
Show Notes: We are getting you ready for the 2024 Transplant Games of America and TGA's inaugural Film Festival in Birmingham by welcoming previous guests Bill Ryan and Robert Horsey. Bill is President and CEO of the Transplant Games of America, and Robert is the Writer and Executive Producer of ...
Mark as Played
The Gifted Life Podcast
Show Notes: We sit down with Mark Fenrich, who's faced a lifelong battle with kidney disease, undergoing a remarkable journey with a total of four kidney transplants from four different members of his family. Mark's inspiring story has captivated national media, and showcases the incredible impac...
Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    The Burden

    The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.

    SmartLess

    "SmartLess" with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, & Will Arnett is a podcast that connects and unites people from all walks of life to learn about shared experiences through thoughtful dialogue and organic hilarity. A nice surprise: in each episode of SmartLess, one of the hosts reveals his mystery guest to the other two. What ensues is a genuinely improvised and authentic conversation filled with laughter and newfound knowledge to feed the SmartLess mind. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of SmartLess ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.

    The Breakfast Club

    The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2026 iHeartMedia, Inc.