April 30, 2025 • 28 mins
The KC crew visits with multiple organ donation recipient, Sonja Dalbey. The KINDNESS of an organ donor cannot be overstated.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:12):
Welcome to the KindnessChronicles, where once again, we
hope to inject the world withthe dose of the Minnesota
Kindness, kindness that itdesperately needs.
See you.
We are more than nice.
We are.
It's kindness.
Yeah.
And uh, we're learning.
Kevin Gorg, fresh from theairport, coming back from Las
Vegas.
Where are we calling you at?
(00:35):
Just got back to Minne.
Um, yeah.
It's been an unbelievable seriesand, and playoff hockey is, is
always something I know thatsports fans look forward to.
But I gotta tell you, in my 19years of doing this job, uh,
last night was, without a doubt,no question, the toughest loss
(00:56):
I've ever seen.
And I hope the guys get over itquicker than I do.
My coping skills aren't whatthey used to be, and they've
gotta get ready for a gametomorrow in Paul, a do or die
game at that.
But, uh, that was a kick in theto.
Well, it was, uh, the guy wasoffside though, right?
I, I agree.
(01:16):
A great, like, great catch bythe Vegas coaching staff.
Yeah, I, I think the way itplayed out, you know, a lot of
times when there's an offsidereview, know, we all watch
hockey off enough where you, yousee the team entering the zone
and you, you kind of feel likeit's a broken play or something
was off.
That was not the case.
On the Hartman goal, it lookedclean coming into the zone.
And then the, the big questionmark when the puck went in is,
(01:38):
was there a kicking motion?
There wasn't.
He drove the net, the goldtender, made it kind of a poke
check, planted puck, you know,bounces up in the air and goes
off hartman's freezers into thenet.
They survive that review and it,you know, the celebration is on
twice with a minute and 15seconds to go in a really
pivotal game, and then thecoaching staff has that extra
(02:00):
time.
To kind of break down that filmand, and find just a little bit
of a glitch and probably aninch, inch and a half where
Nyqua Skate was not on the blueline, and just a heartbreaking
way for that game to finish andfactor in that they had just
lost game for at Holman overtime.
They're a huge underdog in thisseries.
They have legitimately playedstraight up toe to toe with the
(02:22):
Golden Knight, and you feel youshould be up three, two, not
already three.
It's Minnesota Sports guys andwe're all beaten down by it.
Um, it's been since what, 1991,since one of the Big Four, uh,
took down a championship.
So I think that all ties intothe narrative right now.
(02:42):
Well, I just think that we haveto manage our expectations.
Yeah.
This is Loser Town.
USA.
We're never going to win everagain, but we'll be fine.
You know what, let's get rightto our guests and let me before
you introduce her, I would liketo, uh, share with the audience.
What transpired shortly, we, um,have this lovely guest that's
(03:03):
going to be joining us and SteveBrown said to her, you be quiet
now until it's not how I saidit.
You're spoken to, it's so rudethe way you said it.
And this is the KindnessChronicles.
I'm so sorry.
Yeah.
That, that wasn't meant to belike that.
And we don't, we don't talk likethat, you know?
I meant that, I meant that as ifit was like, uh, we're gonna,
you know, like we have thetechnology to keep her, you
know, in a, in a green room.
(03:24):
But we don't, she's just herelistening to us.
We don't have a green room.
No.
Actually the room that we're inhas a tint of green to it.
Yeah.
You know, you never introduced,oh wait, I didn't introduce, we
got Steve Brown here.
Yeah, thank you.
We got Kevin on the line andonce again, we've got our 50
some year old intern, JeffHoffman with us.
Jeff is here, so.
Great.
Thank you.
Jeff has been, he's been doingshow prep.
He's, he's doing, he's studyingthe show.
(03:45):
He's trying to find us peoplethat people have heard of.
Jeff is all in Jeff.
He's all in.
He's all in.
But Steve, why don't youintroduce our guest?
Yes.
So this, this guest, I'll ringyou in a second.
Just keep quiet for a second.
Yeah.
Could you please be quiet untilyou're spoken?
No.
This, uh, this lovely lady hasbeen, uh, brought to my
attention from a listener who'salso a friend of mine, an old
friend of mine from collegeRoxy.
(04:06):
Um, Roxy Charin.
Roxy Charin.
Married to Paul Charin, whoFriend of Paul Of, of Kevin Gor.
Yeah.
You know what worlds are co It'sa small world.
Small world.
But Roxy turned me onto this,uh, this lady, and said, she's a
really, a, a great person.
Please listen to her story.
let me know if you're interestedin talking to her.
I want you guys to hear whatshe's all about.
So, Sonya Dalby, welcome to theKindness Chronicles.
(04:30):
Thanks for joining us.
Oh, thanks for having me here.
I really appreciate that.
Yeah.
So, Sonya, you told me what yourstory is.
I want to hear more about it,but you are a, a, a survivor of
a heart transplant, a livertransplant, and a kidney
transplant.
Is that correct?
That's correct, yeah.
How does that happen?
Wow.
It's crazy and it, she is, we'llhave her tell us.
(04:52):
But, um, you're here to tell usyour story and about why you're,
what's your message?
Is what you're helping us, uh,understand what's your message
is?
Okay.
So last year I had a heart andliver transplant in January and,
um, after that my kidneys failedand they did not recover.
And so I had a, uh, kidneytransplant in September.
(05:14):
And so I'll start with.
My first experience withtransplants, my stepdad had a
transplant when I was in mytwenties, and um, he had a heart
transplant and he lived for morethan 28 years.
And even though he's no longerhere.
His experience helped me getthrough my experience and at the
(05:38):
time he had his transplant inthe eighties.
Um, Cal, who was the Gopherfootball coach, he had a heart
transplant in the eighties andhe came to the hospital and
visited my.
And that helped him get throughall of that.
And so, um, my stepdad was veryinvolved with meeting people who
(06:00):
were waiting for hearts andpeople who would with heart
transplants.
So I was involved in a lot ofthose things.
I'd go to the picnics with themand, um, go to their banquets
and things like that.
So I met a lot of people withheart trems and that really
helped me get through myjourney.
And so my journey started.
I was born with a congenitalheart condition.
(06:20):
And, um, it was, they told mewhen I was a kid, it was upside
down and backwards with a holein it.
Oh, Jesus.
So it just was reallytransposition of the great
vessels and single ventricleand, um, I couldn't run.
I was a blue baby.
Oh no.
Yeah.
And so I could not, yeah.
I didn't have the oxygen andthey actually told my mom I was
(06:41):
not gonna survive.
Hmm.
And back then there were nosurgeries available that could
help me.
Um, and then I found out muchlater that.
Uh, the doctors told me that outof five conditions that can kill
a child, uh, heart conditionsthat can kill a child, I had
three of them without surgery, Ishould say, without surgery.
(07:02):
I had three of them and two ofthem worked together to help me
survive.
And so that's why I survived andI did really well.
I did have a.
Open heart surgery in mytwenties.
Um, and I did pretty well, but Iwas always pretty physically
limited.
And, um, a couple of years ago Iwent in for my checkup and they
mentioned that, uh, this mightbe the time to start talking
(07:25):
about a heart transplant.
And I knew I had been declining,I had really been declining, and
I just thought, well, you know,I'm older and my heart's
probably getting worse.
But, um, I had really sloweddown quite a bit.
Um, I'll tell you, having thatheart transplant, I feel so much
better than I've ever felt andOh, that's fantastic.
(07:47):
At what point in your youth didyou realize that, that a heart
transplant was probably whereyou were gonna end up?
Two years.
Oh, is that okay?
Yeah.
Had never even, yeah, I hadnever even thought anything
before then.
I, it had never even occurred tome.
And, um, I had gone to theUniversity of Minnesota for
(08:07):
years.
I actually had my transplantdone, um, at Mayo and either,
they're both wonderful places.
I.
You know, I could have gone toeither one, but, um, but I had
mine done at Mayo.
Um, I ended up switching doctorsprobably about 10 years ago, and
I ended up down at Mayo.
Um, so they are, they're great.
The University of Minnesota'sgreat.
(08:28):
Um, but, and I, it was asurprise to me.
I, I really kind of thought thatI just wasn't gonna live as long
because of my situation.
I really didn't know I could geta second chance at life like
this.
You know, when they startedtalking about it, I was, I was
surprised.
I was really shocked when they,when they brought up the, the
term, you know, that we mightstart talking about a
(08:50):
transplant.
My husband and I walked out tothe car.
I didn't say anything till I gotin the car.
And then I said, did he saywhat?
I think he said, oh wow.
So Sonia, I'm, I'm kind ofsurprised, um, after all you've
been through with your dad, howold was your dad when he had
his.
He had his in his forties.
Okay.
He was about 42.
How come that wasn't top of mindas you went through this?
Or was it just something younever considered?
(09:14):
You know, um, I thought my heartgot me through so many years.
Um, and I just, you know, Idon't know.
It just.
It seemed to be doing well.
I mean, I lived a pretty normallife except that I was, um,
physically limited.
I couldn't run and things likethat.
But as long as I was just livingmy life, I did fine.
(09:36):
So I graduated from college.
I worked full-time, you know, Iwas a realtor.
I had different careers and, andI did fine.
Um, until probably the last fewyears, things were getting worse
and worse, and I knew that, butI really didn't.
I don't know why I didn't thinkabout that.
They hadn't mentioned it to me,and I was surprised when they
did because I think they weretrying to just, you know, work
(09:59):
with my heart.
Yeah.
And I was surprised when theysaid that.
Well, so everything is stillfairly recent to you then.
Um, I'd like to know.
Yeah, I'd like to know when didyou realize that things were
different?
When did you wake up or, youknow, make a move?
I know you told a great storyabout running, uh, with your
grandchild, so you're talkingabout post post-surgery?
(10:21):
Yeah.
Post everything I can before weget to post surgery.
Yeah.
Can I just quick ask, was the,the liver transplant, was that
related to a cardiac challengethat you had?
It was, yes.
Okay.
How did that, I mean, you know,that's interesting.
Yeah.
The knee bone is connected tothe elbow bone or whatever that
line is.
It affected one another.
Yeah.
So they impacted one.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So what happened was when theydid my, um, they did a font hand
(10:43):
procedure when I was in my, whenI was 23.
And what they did was theyrerouted everything to go
through my lungs before it wentinto my body to give me more
oxygen.
And what happened?
Excess blood flow would bethrough the liver.
You know, that was the plan, butover years and years, over
(11:03):
decade, that put too muchpressure on my liver.
Yeah.
And so my liver just got, um,it, it grew, it was, it was much
larger.
It was very enlarged.
Um, it was much larger than anormal liver would've been.
It was working actually hard.
Lot of scaring.
And then that caused the kidneyproblem.
all of these things, like yousay, they are connected.
(11:23):
So I already was having a littlebit of kidney um, problems when
I was going through theevaluation, but what they hope,
you know, it wasn't bad enoughto not do the surgery and
oftentimes your kidneys canrecover.
So they were trying to wake upmy kidneys, trying to get them
to recover, but they just didn'trecover.
So that also needed to be, um.
(11:45):
I needed a transplant for that.
When, when you were young andreceived this news about how you
were born, how did it justchange your outlook?
How did it impact yourfriendships?
I always knew when I was a kid,I knew I was different.
I couldn't run with the kids.
I didn't play sports with thekids, those things were
different, but I just knew Icouldn't do those things.
(12:07):
And so, um, you know, I, I gavean example that you referred to
where I, if I had to run, um, Icould run maybe half a block
and, and then I would be gaspingfor air.
I just couldn't breathe, gaspingfor air.
My heart would feel like it wasjust pounding out on my chest
and then I, he blood in mythroat and you know, so it was
(12:29):
really not a pleasant experienceto run.
So I just never ran, I nevertried to do all of those things.
And then after my transplant,it's amazing how much more
energy I have.
Um, I've been able to run, youknow, I have, I don't run very
far, but the first time I ran, Iwas racing my nephews and I, um,
(12:51):
you know, I said, let's run oneblock.
I'd never run a block before.
Wow.
And so I ran a block and theywon because they had more
experience.
I did.
But, um, it, I, it feltwonderful when I took that
breath of air.
It was just exhilarating.
It felt like everything wasfilling up with oxygen.
It felt wonderful, and I hadnever experienced that before.
(13:13):
So that I, I don't mean to, tomake light of this, but I can't
run a half a block without myheart pounding and the taste of
blood in my mouth.
Maybe we gotta, I need a hearttransplant.
You know, I knew when I was akid, I was different than the
other kids.
No, I'm sorry.
I just, I couldn't resist,resist.
I couldn't resist.
John, Kevin Gorg, you have a.
Friend that recently wentthrough a, a transplant or that
(13:36):
had a transplant that you wantedto, uh, to mention?
Yeah, I story.
He's a hockey guy in town.
He played for the goldengolfers.
He was a spectacular athletefrom, from Hi Minnesota.
Real tight family.
Um, they all grew up playinghockey and he and a brother that
needed a kidney and he, um,ended up giving up his kidney to
(14:00):
save his brother's life.
And I guess.
It, it absolutely ties into yourjourney.
I, I'm, I'm wondering, in asituation like you went through,
do you end up meeting thefamily?
Oh, good question.
Or knowing the story of, theperson that has donated to
organs, you know, they cannotshare that information with you,
(14:21):
but what we can do is write aletter.
So I've written both of mydonor's family's letters.
And thanking them and you know,it's a hard letter to write
because, you know, it's soemotional.
Yeah.
But, um, right.
You know, I was thanked to thankthem and tell them, I mean, the
most wonderful gift anybody canever give and get, it's a gift
of life.
(14:41):
And I would not be here todaywithout those donors.
And so I wrote a letter and Isent them pictures and I said,
you know, if they, um, if it'sin them to wanna reach back out,
I would love to.
Talk to them someday and I'venot heard back from either, but
I will write again and I'mhoping, I know, I know some
people who've written severaltimes and finally heard back.
(15:02):
I'm hoping maybe they just needmore time.
Yeah, I mean this is sure.
A very emotional thing for them.
So, um, I am hoping that I getto meet them at some point.
We have wonderful, we haveSonia, we have something on this
show.
We refer to it as Oxy to Sunday.
Mm-hmm.
And what that is, is on Sundaywe encourage our listeners to
watch videos on YouTube that arejust your happy place.
(15:27):
And recently, for whateverreason, and I don't know if it's
just serendipity, but I havefound that I'm getting fed these
videos about.
People who have had hearttransplants.
Really?
That, I'm not kidding you, justthis last week, heart
transplants and like at the,the, the wedding of the girl who
got the heart transplant, thefamily of the, the, the man who
(15:52):
donated the heart could come andlisten to the heart of their.
Loved one, and it just wow.
Tears me up to watch thosevideos.
Oh, so amazing.
Yeah.
and I, I hope this isn't crass,but like, do you feel someone
else's heart inside of you?
You know, you hear those storiesabout you suddenly have a taste
(16:13):
for something that you never hada taste for before.
Is that a thing?
Yeah.
Um, it, it is, I don't know thatI have anything specific like
that, but I definitely, becausemy heart feels different, it's,
it's quieter.
It used to pound and be reallyloud, and it used to be I was in
atrial fibrillation uhhuh, so itjust was.
(16:33):
And so now it's really quiet.
I mean, if I try to feel it, Ican feel it, but it's really
peaceful.
Wow.
And I feel stronger and I feelhealthier.
And so I am always aware of, ofmy donor and what they did for
me.
And I, I do feel different inthat way.
I do know.
Some people that their tasteshave changed.
At first, after I went home, Ireally wanted donuts.
(16:55):
I thought that was my me too.
John loves donut.
Gotta go.
It had to be a cop.
Yeah, I know.
That's what I kept thinkingbecause I thought I never used
to frame this, and now I do, butthat's settled down a little
bit.
I don't really know, but I'mdying to know.
If my donor, you know, donor's,family says that, uh, they like
donuts.
Well, Sonia, there's a place in,uh, little Canada called donut
(17:17):
hot.
There we go.
Yeah, they suggest it big time.
So do you know how old yourdonor was?
I don't.
Okay.
Okay.
So you don't have any of thatinformation?
Nope.
Nope.
I don't know.
And I wish I did.
Um, I knew they were from out ofthe area, at least the heart and
(17:37):
liver because they had to fly alarger plane out of area to,
send two teams out there.
But that's all I really know.
So I'm really hoping somedaythey'll write me back.
But we'll see.
I guess we'll see.
Sonia, are your donors frommultiple people?
Are there three different donorsor is it.
Um, two.
Two.
Two.
Okay.
Okay.
Yeah.
Two.
Okay.
(17:58):
So the interesting thing is thatthe, with the heart and the
liver, um, they had to come fromthe same person and, you know,
you're always at risk of, ofrejecting the organs.
Oh, okay.
And somehow when the liver comeswith the heart, but it, you are
protected, your liver has more,protection then the other
organs.
And so somehow that.
(18:19):
Being as likely to reject.
Who was the first person todecide?
You know, what we're gonna tryand do is we're gonna try and
take a heart from one person.
Yeah.
And put it in another.
It's a medical miracle.
It really is.
It's only, you are, you are awalking medical miracle.
It's so amazing to hear you tellthis story.
There was actually a movie backin, I think it was 93 Christian
(18:41):
Slater, Marissa.
To me it was UNT Untamed Heart.
Yep.
And it, it's a kind of a tie in'cause there's actually a North
Star hockey scene, but uh,that's a shout out to kg.
There you go.
My question is, thank shout forSonya.
Who were people that werespecial to you that helped get
you through this path in yourlife?
Um, just on the topic ofkindness, was there any, is
(19:04):
there a lifelong friend?
Any stories you can share thatwere important?
my husband for getting methrough all of this.
He was with me the whole time.
I knew I was different.
I knew I was limited, but Ialways felt pretty normal.
I mean, always had really greatfriends and you know, I think my
stepdad is the person that Icredit with getting me through
this because he lived for over28 years.
(19:26):
I knew, you know, hey, if, if hecould do this, and I know Cal
Stall got him over that as well,and I felt like if he can do
this, I can do this.
So I felt really confident andstrong going into the surgery.
You know, I had to wait in thehospital for a couple of months
until the organs becameavailable.
I wasn't well enough to leave,but I always felt good because I
(19:47):
knew what he had gone through,you know?
And then you talk about thehistory of.
Transplants and there's a bookcalled The King of Hearts, and
it's about the doctors at theUniversity of Minnesota and
about their trials in the verybeginning of these kinds of
things, doing open heartsurgeries on children.
so that's an interesting bookwhen you speak about those
(20:08):
things.
Yeah, if only I was interestedin reading a book.
Im more of a documentary, John.
I'm more of a TV guide.
Right.
To be honest with you.
Yeah.
I just want to acknowledge thatJeff, our, uh, 50-year-old
intern here.
55.
I'm 50.
Are you 55?
Yeah.
Holy smoke.
Yeah.
I'm Steve's age.
He's asking all these thoughtfulquestions and I'm giving
directions to donut huts.
(20:29):
So maybe you're better at thisthan I am.
I, I think what Sonya, what youand I talked about is another,
important piece of this is.
We want to hear what yourmessage is about this.
So what are you taking from thisand what are you trying to, uh,
share with our audience asidefrom your just amazing story?
so what I would really like todo, because you know what my
stepdad, how much he helped meand how much Cal helped him, I
(20:52):
am getting involved in differentthings.
there's the transplant supportgroup at Mayo and we've got,
heart transplants and lungtransplant people there.
And then when I hear aboutpeople that are in the hospital
waiting, like I was, I've beengoing down, I went and visited
one man who's waiting still inthe hospital, and then next week
I'll be going down and meetinghim again and another person.
(21:15):
So I wanna just try and, youknow, help share more my story
and hope.
Hopefully to give them hope, butalso I've become an ambassador
for LifeSource and they're theregional, company that
coordinates all of thetransplants.
So they will work with thefamilies of the donors and
they'll work with the hospitalsand I've become an ambassador
for them.
(21:35):
Just sharing the message abouthow important donation is.
And so this month, April isdonate life month and their
message is to be good andbelieve there is good in all of
us.
Wow.
And so, and one of the thingsthat I wanted to, try to spread
the message of that 95% of thepeople.
(21:57):
Believe that it's a good thing,but only 50% of the people are
actually registered Oh, as adonor.
the action that people can takeis they can go out and they can
register and anybody can do it.
we all have the power to dothat.
Anyone can register and that, ifpeople support this.
(22:17):
they can register either ontheir driver's license or, um,
lifesource.org.
It's life source.org or huntingand fishing licenses.
And then also the apple, iPhonehas a health, app on there and
you can go on there and registerto become a donor as well.
Wow.
So what, what you told me also,Sonya, is that okay, so.
(22:38):
Only 50% of that, 95% of peoplethat believe it's a good thing,
donate.
But, we need so many becausethere's so many chances of
matching are really low and weneed way more.
Yeah, because you need more Yes.
Than that's out there for thechance of.
In our country, there's ahundred thousand people waiting
(22:58):
for donations and in all kindsof donations.
And, about 3000 in our regionare waiting.
And of the people that areregistered.
Um, of the 50% of the peoplethat are registered, only 1%
actually become Oregon donors.
And 3% of those people, um, canbecome other kinds, you know,
(23:20):
tissue donors and cartilage,things like that, eye donors.
Um, and so we really need a lotmore people.
Not everybody that's waitinggets to be a donor.
Yeah.
The thing I can't wrap my headaround is.
What's wrong with the 5% thatdon't think that this is a good
thing?
Yeah.
what's the deal with that 5%fair question though.
(23:44):
Really?
Yeah, it's, yeah, it's just,well, and, and you know, most of
the major religions a supportorgan donation.
Anybody can become a donor.
It doesn't matter their age,their health situation.
You know, anybody can become adonor.
You know, and a lot of us, theycan use something, you know, so.
Um, I've been a donor all mylife as far as I can remember,
(24:07):
and whatever they can use whenI'm done, I hope they can use
something.
Right.
Right.
That's the thing you, you know.
Has anyone, anyone here in thisgroup talking here or anyone our
audience watching the show, thePit with Noah Wiley?
I watched the first episode andI couldn't take it.
There was too gruesome.
Um, it's a very, it's very, it'slike er, but the focus is less
on the relationships with thedoctors.
Is it the same, is he playingthe same character that he was
on er No, not necessarily.
(24:28):
No.
Oh, so he's not.
Uh, okay.
No, it's, it's a really, reallygood show, but it's very
medical, it's very procedural,and it's very highly recommended
and, and appreciated by themedical industry because they're
following protocols.
Uh, and the reason why I bringit up is because it's a very
thoughtful, touching episodeabout, uh, child that, had a
drug overdose kind of situation.
Oh.
And donated all their stuff.
(24:49):
Yeah.
They were rec they were askingif he was gonna donate his
donate.
You know, their sun.
And it was a really hardsituation, but it was such a
well done, real feeling thing.
And uh, it's, it, it ties inperfectly with this Yeah.
This conversation I wouldsuggest to people next Oxy to
Sunday.
Yeah.
I'm not kidding.
You go on YouTube and thestories of, as you've just
(25:09):
described from the pit.
Yeah.
these young, teenagers that getinto a car accident, but they've
got, their eyes are gettingdonated.
Yes.
Kidneys, you can really impact alot of people.
Right.
turning something that'sobviously very tragic into
something that's got some,because Soya is a living
breeding, uh, example of that.
So, I mean, this is so, sogreat.
Yeah.
(25:29):
Donating, donation, you know,sign up.
Yeah.
Yes.
Yeah.
And I'm so grateful.
I mean, I am so grateful to mydonors.
And the other thing is, onedonor can, um, save or improve
the life of up to 75 people.
So it's huge.
It's a huge thing to be a donor.
Oh, wait a minute.
I'm not great at math, but 75people, I mean, what are they?
(25:51):
how does that work?
Yeah.
Well that, where does that, wellthat's, you know, where you've
got your major organs, butyou've also got skin tissue and,
and part it.
Knees and eyes and, um, bone,tissue.
You know, bone for, you know,teeth.
And, I mean, there's alldifferent.
Ways that they can use, um, usethose things.
(26:12):
So I feel like the only thingthat people would want from me
is I got great calves, I've gotgood calves.
Do they do calf donations?
You know, the rest of it.
They'd look at me and go, eh,we're good.
We're good.
No, I, I don't need to makelight of it.
It's, it's actually, it's avery, no, it's good fun.
Sonia, thank you so much foryour time.
Uh, yes.
We love your story.
(26:33):
We wish you well.
Kg you're gonna have to, uh, totell your friend church that,
uh, that we have a new friend,mutual friend.
Friend.
Of a friend.
Of a friend, yeah.
Yeah.
And, uh, I wanna text him rightnow as soon as we hang up and
let him know we had a chance tohear Sonia's story.
And, uh, you know, I think with,with Arch and, and that whole
crew, I know, um, you know,she's a big time runner.
(26:54):
I know his daughter or theirdaughter is a big time runner.
So Sonia, as you build up yourendurance, maybe you guys Yeah,
even remotely can do a littlerunning thing with, uh, your
Churchian buddies.
But, uh, Utah, I'm Utah excitedfor you to hear that story and
months in the hospital, thejourney you've been on.
Um, just incredible to hear it.
Very powerful.
Now I'm motivated the next timeI go to the DMV to figure out
(27:16):
how I can be a donor.
Yeah.
Do, um, like John stuff is many.
I don't drink and smoke and Idon't do drugs, so I've got
something I can offer maybe.
Yeah.
But very motivated to hear yourstory and thank you for sharing
it.
Yeah.
Oh, thank you so much.
I really appreciate youlistening to my story, and it's
really been a pleasure to talkto all of you.
(27:37):
It's been kg if there's a marketfor chin uh transplants, we
could, we could take care of a.
Alright, Sonya, thank you somuch for joining us.
You're an inspiration.
I, I'm so glad to hear yourstory.
Great.
And I'm glad you're doing great.
Thank you so much.
(27:58):
Good.
And off we go.
Welcome to the KindnessChronicles, where once again, we
hope to inject the world withthe dose of the Minnesota
Kindness, kindness that itdesperately needs.
See you.
We are more than nice.
We are.
It's kindness.
Yeah.
And uh, we're learning.
Kevin Gorg, fresh from theairport, coming back from Las
Vegas.
Where are we calling you at?
(00:35):
Just got back to Minne.
Um, yeah.
It's been an unbelievable seriesand, and playoff hockey is, is
always something I know thatsports fans look forward to.
But I gotta tell you, in my 19years of doing this job, uh,
last night was, without a doubt,no question, the toughest loss
(00:56):
I've ever seen.
And I hope the guys get over itquicker than I do.
My coping skills aren't whatthey used to be, and they've
gotta get ready for a gametomorrow in Paul, a do or die
game at that.
But, uh, that was a kick in theto.
Well, it was, uh, the guy wasoffside though, right?
I, I agree.
(01:16):
A great, like, great catch bythe Vegas coaching staff.
Yeah, I, I think the way itplayed out, you know, a lot of
times when there's an offsidereview, know, we all watch
hockey off enough where you, yousee the team entering the zone
and you, you kind of feel likeit's a broken play or something
was off.
That was not the case.
On the Hartman goal, it lookedclean coming into the zone.
And then the, the big questionmark when the puck went in is,
(01:38):
was there a kicking motion?
There wasn't.
He drove the net, the goldtender, made it kind of a poke
check, planted puck, you know,bounces up in the air and goes
off hartman's freezers into thenet.
They survive that review and it,you know, the celebration is on
twice with a minute and 15seconds to go in a really
pivotal game, and then thecoaching staff has that extra
(02:00):
time.
To kind of break down that filmand, and find just a little bit
of a glitch and probably aninch, inch and a half where
Nyqua Skate was not on the blueline, and just a heartbreaking
way for that game to finish andfactor in that they had just
lost game for at Holman overtime.
They're a huge underdog in thisseries.
They have legitimately playedstraight up toe to toe with the
(02:22):
Golden Knight, and you feel youshould be up three, two, not
already three.
It's Minnesota Sports guys andwe're all beaten down by it.
Um, it's been since what, 1991,since one of the Big Four, uh,
took down a championship.
So I think that all ties intothe narrative right now.
(02:42):
Well, I just think that we haveto manage our expectations.
Yeah.
This is Loser Town.
USA.
We're never going to win everagain, but we'll be fine.
You know what, let's get rightto our guests and let me before
you introduce her, I would liketo, uh, share with the audience.
What transpired shortly, we, um,have this lovely guest that's
(03:03):
going to be joining us and SteveBrown said to her, you be quiet
now until it's not how I saidit.
You're spoken to, it's so rudethe way you said it.
And this is the KindnessChronicles.
I'm so sorry.
Yeah.
That, that wasn't meant to belike that.
And we don't, we don't talk likethat, you know?
I meant that, I meant that as ifit was like, uh, we're gonna,
you know, like we have thetechnology to keep her, you
know, in a, in a green room.
(03:24):
But we don't, she's just herelistening to us.
We don't have a green room.
No.
Actually the room that we're inhas a tint of green to it.
Yeah.
You know, you never introduced,oh wait, I didn't introduce, we
got Steve Brown here.
Yeah, thank you.
We got Kevin on the line andonce again, we've got our 50
some year old intern, JeffHoffman with us.
Jeff is here, so.
Great.
Thank you.
Jeff has been, he's been doingshow prep.
He's, he's doing, he's studyingthe show.
(03:45):
He's trying to find us peoplethat people have heard of.
Jeff is all in Jeff.
He's all in.
He's all in.
But Steve, why don't youintroduce our guest?
Yes.
So this, this guest, I'll ringyou in a second.
Just keep quiet for a second.
Yeah.
Could you please be quiet untilyou're spoken?
No.
This, uh, this lovely lady hasbeen, uh, brought to my
attention from a listener who'salso a friend of mine, an old
friend of mine from collegeRoxy.
(04:06):
Um, Roxy Charin.
Roxy Charin.
Married to Paul Charin, whoFriend of Paul Of, of Kevin Gor.
Yeah.
You know what worlds are co It'sa small world.
Small world.
But Roxy turned me onto this,uh, this lady, and said, she's a
really, a, a great person.
Please listen to her story.
let me know if you're interestedin talking to her.
I want you guys to hear whatshe's all about.
So, Sonya Dalby, welcome to theKindness Chronicles.
(04:30):
Thanks for joining us.
Oh, thanks for having me here.
I really appreciate that.
Yeah.
So, Sonya, you told me what yourstory is.
I want to hear more about it,but you are a, a, a survivor of
a heart transplant, a livertransplant, and a kidney
transplant.
Is that correct?
That's correct, yeah.
How does that happen?
Wow.
It's crazy and it, she is, we'llhave her tell us.
(04:52):
But, um, you're here to tell usyour story and about why you're,
what's your message?
Is what you're helping us, uh,understand what's your message
is?
Okay.
So last year I had a heart andliver transplant in January and,
um, after that my kidneys failedand they did not recover.
And so I had a, uh, kidneytransplant in September.
(05:14):
And so I'll start with.
My first experience withtransplants, my stepdad had a
transplant when I was in mytwenties, and um, he had a heart
transplant and he lived for morethan 28 years.
And even though he's no longerhere.
His experience helped me getthrough my experience and at the
(05:38):
time he had his transplant inthe eighties.
Um, Cal, who was the Gopherfootball coach, he had a heart
transplant in the eighties andhe came to the hospital and
visited my.
And that helped him get throughall of that.
And so, um, my stepdad was veryinvolved with meeting people who
(06:00):
were waiting for hearts andpeople who would with heart
transplants.
So I was involved in a lot ofthose things.
I'd go to the picnics with themand, um, go to their banquets
and things like that.
So I met a lot of people withheart trems and that really
helped me get through myjourney.
And so my journey started.
I was born with a congenitalheart condition.
(06:20):
And, um, it was, they told mewhen I was a kid, it was upside
down and backwards with a holein it.
Oh, Jesus.
So it just was reallytransposition of the great
vessels and single ventricleand, um, I couldn't run.
I was a blue baby.
Oh no.
Yeah.
And so I could not, yeah.
I didn't have the oxygen andthey actually told my mom I was
(06:41):
not gonna survive.
Hmm.
And back then there were nosurgeries available that could
help me.
Um, and then I found out muchlater that.
Uh, the doctors told me that outof five conditions that can kill
a child, uh, heart conditionsthat can kill a child, I had
three of them without surgery, Ishould say, without surgery.
(07:02):
I had three of them and two ofthem worked together to help me
survive.
And so that's why I survived andI did really well.
I did have a.
Open heart surgery in mytwenties.
Um, and I did pretty well, but Iwas always pretty physically
limited.
And, um, a couple of years ago Iwent in for my checkup and they
mentioned that, uh, this mightbe the time to start talking
(07:25):
about a heart transplant.
And I knew I had been declining,I had really been declining, and
I just thought, well, you know,I'm older and my heart's
probably getting worse.
But, um, I had really sloweddown quite a bit.
Um, I'll tell you, having thatheart transplant, I feel so much
better than I've ever felt andOh, that's fantastic.
(07:47):
At what point in your youth didyou realize that, that a heart
transplant was probably whereyou were gonna end up?
Two years.
Oh, is that okay?
Yeah.
Had never even, yeah, I hadnever even thought anything
before then.
I, it had never even occurred tome.
And, um, I had gone to theUniversity of Minnesota for
(08:07):
years.
I actually had my transplantdone, um, at Mayo and either,
they're both wonderful places.
I.
You know, I could have gone toeither one, but, um, but I had
mine done at Mayo.
Um, I ended up switching doctorsprobably about 10 years ago, and
I ended up down at Mayo.
Um, so they are, they're great.
The University of Minnesota'sgreat.
(08:28):
Um, but, and I, it was asurprise to me.
I, I really kind of thought thatI just wasn't gonna live as long
because of my situation.
I really didn't know I could geta second chance at life like
this.
You know, when they startedtalking about it, I was, I was
surprised.
I was really shocked when they,when they brought up the, the
term, you know, that we mightstart talking about a
(08:50):
transplant.
My husband and I walked out tothe car.
I didn't say anything till I gotin the car.
And then I said, did he saywhat?
I think he said, oh wow.
So Sonia, I'm, I'm kind ofsurprised, um, after all you've
been through with your dad, howold was your dad when he had
his.
He had his in his forties.
Okay.
He was about 42.
How come that wasn't top of mindas you went through this?
Or was it just something younever considered?
(09:14):
You know, um, I thought my heartgot me through so many years.
Um, and I just, you know, Idon't know.
It just.
It seemed to be doing well.
I mean, I lived a pretty normallife except that I was, um,
physically limited.
I couldn't run and things likethat.
But as long as I was just livingmy life, I did fine.
(09:36):
So I graduated from college.
I worked full-time, you know, Iwas a realtor.
I had different careers and, andI did fine.
Um, until probably the last fewyears, things were getting worse
and worse, and I knew that, butI really didn't.
I don't know why I didn't thinkabout that.
They hadn't mentioned it to me,and I was surprised when they
did because I think they weretrying to just, you know, work
(09:59):
with my heart.
Yeah.
And I was surprised when theysaid that.
Well, so everything is stillfairly recent to you then.
Um, I'd like to know.
Yeah, I'd like to know when didyou realize that things were
different?
When did you wake up or, youknow, make a move?
I know you told a great storyabout running, uh, with your
grandchild, so you're talkingabout post post-surgery?
(10:21):
Yeah.
Post everything I can before weget to post surgery.
Yeah.
Can I just quick ask, was the,the liver transplant, was that
related to a cardiac challengethat you had?
It was, yes.
Okay.
How did that, I mean, you know,that's interesting.
Yeah.
The knee bone is connected tothe elbow bone or whatever that
line is.
It affected one another.
Yeah.
So they impacted one.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So what happened was when theydid my, um, they did a font hand
(10:43):
procedure when I was in my, whenI was 23.
And what they did was theyrerouted everything to go
through my lungs before it wentinto my body to give me more
oxygen.
And what happened?
Excess blood flow would bethrough the liver.
You know, that was the plan, butover years and years, over
(11:03):
decade, that put too muchpressure on my liver.
Yeah.
And so my liver just got, um,it, it grew, it was, it was much
larger.
It was very enlarged.
Um, it was much larger than anormal liver would've been.
It was working actually hard.
Lot of scaring.
And then that caused the kidneyproblem.
all of these things, like yousay, they are connected.
(11:23):
So I already was having a littlebit of kidney um, problems when
I was going through theevaluation, but what they hope,
you know, it wasn't bad enoughto not do the surgery and
oftentimes your kidneys canrecover.
So they were trying to wake upmy kidneys, trying to get them
to recover, but they just didn'trecover.
So that also needed to be, um.
(11:45):
I needed a transplant for that.
When, when you were young andreceived this news about how you
were born, how did it justchange your outlook?
How did it impact yourfriendships?
I always knew when I was a kid,I knew I was different.
I couldn't run with the kids.
I didn't play sports with thekids, those things were
different, but I just knew Icouldn't do those things.
(12:07):
And so, um, you know, I, I gavean example that you referred to
where I, if I had to run, um, Icould run maybe half a block
and, and then I would be gaspingfor air.
I just couldn't breathe, gaspingfor air.
My heart would feel like it wasjust pounding out on my chest
and then I, he blood in mythroat and you know, so it was
(12:29):
really not a pleasant experienceto run.
So I just never ran, I nevertried to do all of those things.
And then after my transplant,it's amazing how much more
energy I have.
Um, I've been able to run, youknow, I have, I don't run very
far, but the first time I ran, Iwas racing my nephews and I, um,
(12:51):
you know, I said, let's run oneblock.
I'd never run a block before.
Wow.
And so I ran a block and theywon because they had more
experience.
I did.
But, um, it, I, it feltwonderful when I took that
breath of air.
It was just exhilarating.
It felt like everything wasfilling up with oxygen.
It felt wonderful, and I hadnever experienced that before.
(13:13):
So that I, I don't mean to, tomake light of this, but I can't
run a half a block without myheart pounding and the taste of
blood in my mouth.
Maybe we gotta, I need a hearttransplant.
You know, I knew when I was akid, I was different than the
other kids.
No, I'm sorry.
I just, I couldn't resist,resist.
I couldn't resist.
John, Kevin Gorg, you have a.
Friend that recently wentthrough a, a transplant or that
(13:36):
had a transplant that you wantedto, uh, to mention?
Yeah, I story.
He's a hockey guy in town.
He played for the goldengolfers.
He was a spectacular athletefrom, from Hi Minnesota.
Real tight family.
Um, they all grew up playinghockey and he and a brother that
needed a kidney and he, um,ended up giving up his kidney to
(14:00):
save his brother's life.
And I guess.
It, it absolutely ties into yourjourney.
I, I'm, I'm wondering, in asituation like you went through,
do you end up meeting thefamily?
Oh, good question.
Or knowing the story of, theperson that has donated to
organs, you know, they cannotshare that information with you,
(14:21):
but what we can do is write aletter.
So I've written both of mydonor's family's letters.
And thanking them and you know,it's a hard letter to write
because, you know, it's soemotional.
Yeah.
But, um, right.
You know, I was thanked to thankthem and tell them, I mean, the
most wonderful gift anybody canever give and get, it's a gift
of life.
(14:41):
And I would not be here todaywithout those donors.
And so I wrote a letter and Isent them pictures and I said,
you know, if they, um, if it'sin them to wanna reach back out,
I would love to.
Talk to them someday and I'venot heard back from either, but
I will write again and I'mhoping, I know, I know some
people who've written severaltimes and finally heard back.
(15:02):
I'm hoping maybe they just needmore time.
Yeah, I mean this is sure.
A very emotional thing for them.
So, um, I am hoping that I getto meet them at some point.
We have wonderful, we haveSonia, we have something on this
show.
We refer to it as Oxy to Sunday.
Mm-hmm.
And what that is, is on Sundaywe encourage our listeners to
watch videos on YouTube that arejust your happy place.
(15:27):
And recently, for whateverreason, and I don't know if it's
just serendipity, but I havefound that I'm getting fed these
videos about.
People who have had hearttransplants.
Really?
That, I'm not kidding you, justthis last week, heart
transplants and like at the,the, the wedding of the girl who
got the heart transplant, thefamily of the, the, the man who
(15:52):
donated the heart could come andlisten to the heart of their.
Loved one, and it just wow.
Tears me up to watch thosevideos.
Oh, so amazing.
Yeah.
and I, I hope this isn't crass,but like, do you feel someone
else's heart inside of you?
You know, you hear those storiesabout you suddenly have a taste
(16:13):
for something that you never hada taste for before.
Is that a thing?
Yeah.
Um, it, it is, I don't know thatI have anything specific like
that, but I definitely, becausemy heart feels different, it's,
it's quieter.
It used to pound and be reallyloud, and it used to be I was in
atrial fibrillation uhhuh, so itjust was.
(16:33):
And so now it's really quiet.
I mean, if I try to feel it, Ican feel it, but it's really
peaceful.
Wow.
And I feel stronger and I feelhealthier.
And so I am always aware of, ofmy donor and what they did for
me.
And I, I do feel different inthat way.
I do know.
Some people that their tasteshave changed.
At first, after I went home, Ireally wanted donuts.
(16:55):
I thought that was my me too.
John loves donut.
Gotta go.
It had to be a cop.
Yeah, I know.
That's what I kept thinkingbecause I thought I never used
to frame this, and now I do, butthat's settled down a little
bit.
I don't really know, but I'mdying to know.
If my donor, you know, donor's,family says that, uh, they like
donuts.
Well, Sonia, there's a place in,uh, little Canada called donut
(17:17):
hot.
There we go.
Yeah, they suggest it big time.
So do you know how old yourdonor was?
I don't.
Okay.
Okay.
So you don't have any of thatinformation?
Nope.
Nope.
I don't know.
And I wish I did.
Um, I knew they were from out ofthe area, at least the heart and
(17:37):
liver because they had to fly alarger plane out of area to,
send two teams out there.
But that's all I really know.
So I'm really hoping somedaythey'll write me back.
But we'll see.
I guess we'll see.
Sonia, are your donors frommultiple people?
Are there three different donorsor is it.
Um, two.
Two.
Two.
Okay.
Okay.
Yeah.
Two.
Okay.
(17:58):
So the interesting thing is thatthe, with the heart and the
liver, um, they had to come fromthe same person and, you know,
you're always at risk of, ofrejecting the organs.
Oh, okay.
And somehow when the liver comeswith the heart, but it, you are
protected, your liver has more,protection then the other
organs.
And so somehow that.
(18:19):
Being as likely to reject.
Who was the first person todecide?
You know, what we're gonna tryand do is we're gonna try and
take a heart from one person.
Yeah.
And put it in another.
It's a medical miracle.
It really is.
It's only, you are, you are awalking medical miracle.
It's so amazing to hear you tellthis story.
There was actually a movie backin, I think it was 93 Christian
(18:41):
Slater, Marissa.
To me it was UNT Untamed Heart.
Yep.
And it, it's a kind of a tie in'cause there's actually a North
Star hockey scene, but uh,that's a shout out to kg.
There you go.
My question is, thank shout forSonya.
Who were people that werespecial to you that helped get
you through this path in yourlife?
Um, just on the topic ofkindness, was there any, is
(19:04):
there a lifelong friend?
Any stories you can share thatwere important?
my husband for getting methrough all of this.
He was with me the whole time.
I knew I was different.
I knew I was limited, but Ialways felt pretty normal.
I mean, always had really greatfriends and you know, I think my
stepdad is the person that Icredit with getting me through
this because he lived for over28 years.
(19:26):
I knew, you know, hey, if, if hecould do this, and I know Cal
Stall got him over that as well,and I felt like if he can do
this, I can do this.
So I felt really confident andstrong going into the surgery.
You know, I had to wait in thehospital for a couple of months
until the organs becameavailable.
I wasn't well enough to leave,but I always felt good because I
(19:47):
knew what he had gone through,you know?
And then you talk about thehistory of.
Transplants and there's a bookcalled The King of Hearts, and
it's about the doctors at theUniversity of Minnesota and
about their trials in the verybeginning of these kinds of
things, doing open heartsurgeries on children.
so that's an interesting bookwhen you speak about those
(20:08):
things.
Yeah, if only I was interestedin reading a book.
Im more of a documentary, John.
I'm more of a TV guide.
Right.
To be honest with you.
Yeah.
I just want to acknowledge thatJeff, our, uh, 50-year-old
intern here.
55.
I'm 50.
Are you 55?
Yeah.
Holy smoke.
Yeah.
I'm Steve's age.
He's asking all these thoughtfulquestions and I'm giving
directions to donut huts.
(20:29):
So maybe you're better at thisthan I am.
I, I think what Sonya, what youand I talked about is another,
important piece of this is.
We want to hear what yourmessage is about this.
So what are you taking from thisand what are you trying to, uh,
share with our audience asidefrom your just amazing story?
so what I would really like todo, because you know what my
stepdad, how much he helped meand how much Cal helped him, I
(20:52):
am getting involved in differentthings.
there's the transplant supportgroup at Mayo and we've got,
heart transplants and lungtransplant people there.
And then when I hear aboutpeople that are in the hospital
waiting, like I was, I've beengoing down, I went and visited
one man who's waiting still inthe hospital, and then next week
I'll be going down and meetinghim again and another person.
(21:15):
So I wanna just try and, youknow, help share more my story
and hope.
Hopefully to give them hope, butalso I've become an ambassador
for LifeSource and they're theregional, company that
coordinates all of thetransplants.
So they will work with thefamilies of the donors and
they'll work with the hospitalsand I've become an ambassador
for them.
(21:35):
Just sharing the message abouthow important donation is.
And so this month, April isdonate life month and their
message is to be good andbelieve there is good in all of
us.
Wow.
And so, and one of the thingsthat I wanted to, try to spread
the message of that 95% of thepeople.
(21:57):
Believe that it's a good thing,but only 50% of the people are
actually registered Oh, as adonor.
the action that people can takeis they can go out and they can
register and anybody can do it.
we all have the power to dothat.
Anyone can register and that, ifpeople support this.
(22:17):
they can register either ontheir driver's license or, um,
lifesource.org.
It's life source.org or huntingand fishing licenses.
And then also the apple, iPhonehas a health, app on there and
you can go on there and registerto become a donor as well.
Wow.
So what, what you told me also,Sonya, is that okay, so.
(22:38):
Only 50% of that, 95% of peoplethat believe it's a good thing,
donate.
But, we need so many becausethere's so many chances of
matching are really low and weneed way more.
Yeah, because you need more Yes.
Than that's out there for thechance of.
In our country, there's ahundred thousand people waiting
(22:58):
for donations and in all kindsof donations.
And, about 3000 in our regionare waiting.
And of the people that areregistered.
Um, of the 50% of the peoplethat are registered, only 1%
actually become Oregon donors.
And 3% of those people, um, canbecome other kinds, you know,
(23:20):
tissue donors and cartilage,things like that, eye donors.
Um, and so we really need a lotmore people.
Not everybody that's waitinggets to be a donor.
Yeah.
The thing I can't wrap my headaround is.
What's wrong with the 5% thatdon't think that this is a good
thing?
Yeah.
what's the deal with that 5%fair question though.
(23:44):
Really?
Yeah, it's, yeah, it's just,well, and, and you know, most of
the major religions a supportorgan donation.
Anybody can become a donor.
It doesn't matter their age,their health situation.
You know, anybody can become adonor.
You know, and a lot of us, theycan use something, you know, so.
Um, I've been a donor all mylife as far as I can remember,
(24:07):
and whatever they can use whenI'm done, I hope they can use
something.
Right.
Right.
That's the thing you, you know.
Has anyone, anyone here in thisgroup talking here or anyone our
audience watching the show, thePit with Noah Wiley?
I watched the first episode andI couldn't take it.
There was too gruesome.
Um, it's a very, it's very, it'slike er, but the focus is less
on the relationships with thedoctors.
Is it the same, is he playingthe same character that he was
on er No, not necessarily.
(24:28):
No.
Oh, so he's not.
Uh, okay.
No, it's, it's a really, reallygood show, but it's very
medical, it's very procedural,and it's very highly recommended
and, and appreciated by themedical industry because they're
following protocols.
Uh, and the reason why I bringit up is because it's a very
thoughtful, touching episodeabout, uh, child that, had a
drug overdose kind of situation.
Oh.
And donated all their stuff.
(24:49):
Yeah.
They were rec they were askingif he was gonna donate his
donate.
You know, their sun.
And it was a really hardsituation, but it was such a
well done, real feeling thing.
And uh, it's, it, it ties inperfectly with this Yeah.
This conversation I wouldsuggest to people next Oxy to
Sunday.
Yeah.
I'm not kidding.
You go on YouTube and thestories of, as you've just
(25:09):
described from the pit.
Yeah.
these young, teenagers that getinto a car accident, but they've
got, their eyes are gettingdonated.
Yes.
Kidneys, you can really impact alot of people.
Right.
turning something that'sobviously very tragic into
something that's got some,because Soya is a living
breeding, uh, example of that.
So, I mean, this is so, sogreat.
Yeah.
(25:29):
Donating, donation, you know,sign up.
Yeah.
Yes.
Yeah.
And I'm so grateful.
I mean, I am so grateful to mydonors.
And the other thing is, onedonor can, um, save or improve
the life of up to 75 people.
So it's huge.
It's a huge thing to be a donor.
Oh, wait a minute.
I'm not great at math, but 75people, I mean, what are they?
(25:51):
how does that work?
Yeah.
Well that, where does that, wellthat's, you know, where you've
got your major organs, butyou've also got skin tissue and,
and part it.
Knees and eyes and, um, bone,tissue.
You know, bone for, you know,teeth.
And, I mean, there's alldifferent.
Ways that they can use, um, usethose things.
(26:12):
So I feel like the only thingthat people would want from me
is I got great calves, I've gotgood calves.
Do they do calf donations?
You know, the rest of it.
They'd look at me and go, eh,we're good.
We're good.
No, I, I don't need to makelight of it.
It's, it's actually, it's avery, no, it's good fun.
Sonia, thank you so much foryour time.
Uh, yes.
We love your story.
(26:33):
We wish you well.
Kg you're gonna have to, uh, totell your friend church that,
uh, that we have a new friend,mutual friend.
Friend.
Of a friend.
Of a friend, yeah.
Yeah.
And, uh, I wanna text him rightnow as soon as we hang up and
let him know we had a chance tohear Sonia's story.
And, uh, you know, I think with,with Arch and, and that whole
crew, I know, um, you know,she's a big time runner.
(26:54):
I know his daughter or theirdaughter is a big time runner.
So Sonia, as you build up yourendurance, maybe you guys Yeah,
even remotely can do a littlerunning thing with, uh, your
Churchian buddies.
But, uh, Utah, I'm Utah excitedfor you to hear that story and
months in the hospital, thejourney you've been on.
Um, just incredible to hear it.
Very powerful.
Now I'm motivated the next timeI go to the DMV to figure out
(27:16):
how I can be a donor.
Yeah.
Do, um, like John stuff is many.
I don't drink and smoke and Idon't do drugs, so I've got
something I can offer maybe.
Yeah.
But very motivated to hear yourstory and thank you for sharing
it.
Yeah.
Oh, thank you so much.
I really appreciate youlistening to my story, and it's
really been a pleasure to talkto all of you.
(27:37):
It's been kg if there's a marketfor chin uh transplants, we
could, we could take care of a.
Alright, Sonya, thank you somuch for joining us.
You're an inspiration.
I, I'm so glad to hear yourstory.
Great.
And I'm glad you're doing great.
Thank you so much.
(27:58):
Good.
And off we go.
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