Blink | Jake Haendel's Story

Jacob Haendel has been handed a death sentence. He has a terminal progressive disease that's eating away at the white matter of his brain. In six months, he'll be dead. As the months progress, Jake slips into a coma, laying there in total darkness. But something odd has happened... Jake is fully conscious. Nobody knows that he can hear them. They’re certain he's no longer in there. With the promise that Jake will never recover, friends and family visit less and less. Until there is just one person left. A person who begins to whisper strange admissions in his ear. It is here, helpless in his hospital bed, that Jake realizes what may have gotten him here in the first place. The scariest thing in the room is no longer the potential of dying, but rather, the person sitting right next to him. This is Blink, the untold true story and survival of Jacob Haendel. Blink is part of The Binge - subscribe to The Binge to get new episodes of Blink one week early and all episodes completely ad-free. From serial killer nurses to psychic scammers – The Binge is your home for true crime stories that pull you in and never let go. Follow The Binge Crimes and The Binge Cases wherever you get your podcasts to get new stories on the first of the month, every month. Hit ‘Subscribe’ at the top of the Blink show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com. The Binge – feed your true crime obsession.

Episodes

Blink - Coming February 2nd

November 14, 2024 • 1 min

Heroin. Secrets. Deadly Betrayal. The untold story of Jake Haendel. Unlocking February 2nd. https://www.blinkthepodcast.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Blink

February 2, 2025 • 35 mins

Jake Haendel knows something isn’t right—his body and mind feel disconnected in a way he can’t explain. That realization hits hardest at the worst possible moment... in the middle of getting arrested for smoking heroin while driving. But the real punishment isn’t the cuffs or the charges—it’s the diagnosis that follows. Doctors give him six months to live. A death sentence. And the clock starts now. Content warning: Drug use/abuse...

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Locked-In

February 9, 2025 • 39 mins

If the disease doesn’t kill Jake, the medical system just might. As his condition worsens, he endures brutal treatment and increasing isolation while tensions explode between his family and his wife. But when he finally slips into a coma, the real nightmare begins—trapped in silence, Jake overhears something chilling. Content warning: Drug use/abuse, addiction, medical trauma, serious illness, paralysis/coma, death & dying, domes...

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Wayward Son

February 16, 2025 • 51 mins

How does a man like Jake find himself with only six months to live? Friends and family give us a glimpse into Jake’s past—a childhood that seemed ordinary until everything changed. His descent started early, having been introduced to drugs in middle school and running the trade by high school. But when his mother is diagnosed with cancer, his world shatters, and drugs become his escape. What begins as a way to numb the pain soon pu...

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Heroin or Heroine

February 23, 2025 • 41 mins

Jake meets the woman who would soon become his wife. The two embark on a whirlwind romance, but life is anything but easy. Jake is an addict, and his addiction to heroin is all-consuming. Tension builds between the two, and we are left wondering who the real hero of this story is. Content warning: Pregnancy loss, drug use/abuse, addiction, emotional distress & mature content. Resources can be found on our website, blinkthepodcas...

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Making Peace with Death

March 2, 2025 • 34 mins

Jake was given just six months to live, and now that deadline is closing in. As his body is wracked by a series of violent autonomic storms, his hospice nurse fears the worst. The final moments seem inevitable—last rites are read, and his wife prepares to say goodbye. But then, Jake comes face to face with death itself… and what happens next defies all expectations. Content warning: Drug use/abuse, addiction, death and dying, medi...

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Blink Twice

March 9, 2025 • 49 mins

Against all odds, Jake was alive. In the depths of suffering, he discovered an extraordinary power within himself—the will to survive. But survival wasn’t the only battle he’d have to fight. As he clawed his way back to life, one heartbreaking revelation at a time, the question remained: Was his recovery truly a second chance… or just another game of control? Content warning: Drug use/abuse, addiction, death and dying, medical tra...

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The Resurrection of Jake

March 16, 2025 • 39 mins

Alone and abandoned in a hospital, Jake is forced to focus on his recovery. That is, until a single phone number suddenly pops into his mind. A phone call sets off a chain of events that will reconnect him with his past and lead to staggering revelations. Content warning: Drug use/abuse, addiction, death and dying, medical trauma, sexual abuse, emotional distress & mature content. Resources can be found on our website, blinkthepo...

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Dude, Where’s my Sperm?

April 13, 2025 • 33 mins

As Jake lay locked-in and unable to move or speak, a sperm sample was taken without his explicit consent, sparking a complex legal and ethical battle that would stretch far beyond his hospital bed, and Jake’s fight to reclaim what was his. Content warning: Drug use/abuse, addiction, death and dying, medical trauma, discussions of consent, marital rape, sexual assault, emotional distress & mature content. Resources can be found ...

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Signed, Sealed, Silenced

April 20, 2025 • 34 mins

What started as a straightforward effort to move on spiraled into a bitter and complicated divorce—one that called Jake’s right to share his own story into question. As the layers begin to peel back, deeper questions emerge—about love, control, and the versions of a relationship we choose to believe. Content warning: Drug use/abuse, addiction, divorce, discussions of consent, sexual assault, emotional distress & mature content. ...

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The Silent Witness

April 27, 2025 • 39 mins

Jake’s case exposed an unsettling reality: countless patients may be fully aware, yet locked inside unresponsive bodies—misdiagnosed and dismissed. But just as medicine starts to grasp the scope of covert consciousness, Jake’s experience veers into the uncanny. His consciousness didn’t just endure—it slipped free. Content warning: Drug use/abuse, addiction, medical trauma, death and dying, emotional distress & mature content. Res...

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An Update on Blink

May 4, 2025 • 1 min

A brief update on our upcoming episodes, tips for accessing past episodes, and how to send in your questions for our Q&A episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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One-Hundred Pound Baby

May 18, 2025 • 39 mins

As old memories resurface and old connections are rekindled, Jake starts to suspect that someone in his inner circle may have been orchestrating far more than just his care. Alarming details come to light, offhand comments take on new meaning, and a once-unthinkable theory begins to feel dangerously plausible. Content warning: Drug use/abuse, addiction, medical trauma, death and dying, emotional distress & mature content. Resourc...

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Bad Batch

May 25, 2025 • 48 mins

Jake’s long-held theory—that his illness wasn’t accidental—takes a jarring turn when a Facebook message arrives from someone he’s never met. Content warning: Drug use/abuse, addiction, medical trauma, death and dying, mental health crises, emotional distress & mature content. Resources can be found on our website, blinkthepodcast.com . . . . . Hosted and produced by Corinne Vien Co-created by Jake Haendel Original com...

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The Proxy Trap

June 1, 2025 • 42 mins

Jake’s search for answers pulls him into the unsettling world of Munchausen by proxy—a rare, insidious form of abuse where illness is manufactured for attention. And as he revisits his own medical history, he’s left to wonder: did a real diagnosis conceal something even darker? Content warning: Drug use/abuse, addiction, medical trauma, child abuse, child loss, pregnancy loss, medical child abuse, death and dying, mental health...

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Work in Progress

June 8, 2025 • 49 mins

In the final episode of Blink, Jake brings us into his world today, offering a raw, powerful look at what healing truly means—and what comes after survival. Content warning: Drug use/abuse, addiction, medical trauma, mental health crises, emotional distress & mature content. Resources can be found on our website, blinkthepodcast.com . . . . . Hosted and produced by Corinne Vien Co-created by Jake Haendel Original c...

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