Donors & Recipients: A Kidney Transplant Among Friends

In this episode of The Wisdom Project, host Doug Boyd explores the life-changing journey of kidney donation and transplantation through the stories of two childhood friends, Laura Ottaviani-Chacon and Dan Becker. Through intimate interviews with both donor and recipient—before and after the surgery—this episode reveals the emotional, medical, and human dimensions of organ transplantation. It examines the realities of life on transplant waiting lists, the growing role of social media and personal networks in finding donors, and the profound bond that forms when one person gives another the gift of life. Access oral history interviews online: Interview with Dan Becker, May 27, 2023 Interview with Laura Ottaviani-Chacon, June 10, 202 Interview with Dan Becker, Laura Ottaviani-Chacon, July 21, 2023 For more information about kidney donation or about becoming an organ donor: The National Kidney Foundation Episode produced by Doug Boyd Assistant Producer: Megan Hubbard and Emma Haas Music by Doug Boyd. The Wisdom Project is a podcast produced by the Louie B Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky LIbraries .

You can listen to Donors & Recipients: A Kidney Transplant Among Friends online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Donors & Recipients: A Kidney Transplant Among Friends is an episode from The Wisdom Project Podcast by Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History.

This episode is 30:30 long.

This episode was published on Mar 10, 2026.

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