Living Transplant: Patient Stories | Organ Donation | Medical Experts

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 m...

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 wit...

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 cl...

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 the...

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. T...

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...

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 acc...

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,...

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. Lat...

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...

In this episode, host Candice Coghlan sat down with Shilpa Raju, an epidemiologist who finished her degree while battling cancer. She survived the cancer, however unfortunately the side effects from her treatment caused severe lung damage, resulting in her need for a double lung transplant. Shilpa spoke about being a young person battling illness and trying to keep a sense of normalcy and positivi...

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 diagnos...

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...

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 importa...

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 Explo...

In September, 2022, we launched Great Actions Leave a Mark, a national, multi-year public awareness campaign about living organ donation and transplantation. It has images and videos of living kidney and liver donors and recipients from across Canada. This week you will hear another story from a great actions model about their journey with living organ donation. In this episode, host Candice was j...

In September 2022, we launched Great Actions Leave a Mark, a national, multi-year public awareness campaign about living organ donation and transplantation. It has images and videos of living kidney and liver donors and recipients across Canada.  In this episode, Host Candice is joined by Ian Goodall-George, who self proclaimed himself as the poster child for boring, but is anything but that. Ian...

In September 2022, we launched Great Actions Leave a Mark, a national, multi-year public awareness campaign about living organ donation and transplantation. It has images and videos of living kidney and liver donors and recipients across Canada.  In this episode, Host Candice is joined by Ashley, a world traveller and horseback rider who donated a kidney to a stranger through the Kidney Paired Don...

In September, 2022, we launched Great Actions Leave A Mark, a national, multi-year public awareness campaign about living organ donation and transplantation.   It has images and videos of living kidney and liver donors and recipients across Canada. In the coming weeks, you'll hear stories from great actions models about their journey with living organ donation. In this episode, Host Candice interv...

Bonus Episode: Great Actions Leave a Mark - Jaime In September, 2022, we launched Great Actions Leave A Mark, a national, multi-year public awareness campaign about living organ donation and transplantation.  It has images and videos of living kidney and liver donors and recipients across Canada. In the coming weeks, you'll hear stories from Great Actions models about their journey with living org...

Bonus Episode: Remember This Living Donation - Len During Living Donation Week 2021, we partnered with the podcast, Remember This, with host Amanda Cupido to highlight first person living organ donation stories submitted through an online app. In this episode, Len shares his story as a double anonymous, non-directed living donor, which means he donated a portion of his liver to a stranger, then he...

Bonus Episode: Remember This- Glenna During Living Donation Week 2021, we partnered with the podcast, Remember This, with host Amanda Cupido to highlight first person living organ donation stories submitted through an online app. In this episode, Glenna shares her journey as a non-directed, living anonymous donor, meaning she donated 62% of her liver to a stranger! Enjoy! The views and opinions ex...

During Living Donation Week 2021, we partnered with the podcast, Remember This, hosted by Amanda Cupido to highlight first person living organ donation stories submitted through an online app. In this episode, Katie shares her journey as a living liver donor to her husband Simon and its impact on their family. Enjoy! To submit your story, please reach out to us at  livingorgandonation@uhn.ca For m...

Bonus Episode: Remember This- Palma During Living Donation Week 2021, we partnered with the podcast, Remember This, with host Amanda Cupido to highlight first person living organ donation stories submitted through an online app. In this episode, Palma shares her journey as a living liver donor to her cousin Jess. Enjoy! The views and opinions expressed in this interview do not necessarily reflect...

Host Candice Coghlan is joined by Natalie Theron, a liver transplant recipient who was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer the day before she gave birth to her daughter. After an incredible journey with cancer trials, chemotherapy, a HAIP pump and hospital stays, Natalie’s husband became her liver donor, effectively curing her liver cancer. Candice and Natalie speak about rollercoasters, mother...