Who: Matthew HankesWhat: Heart Transplant RecipientWhere: Northern IdahoConnect: https://donate.transplants.org/story/MatthankesWhat we were drinking: Matt: Plain ol’ coffeeR!WC: Craft 42 Roasters Ethiopia Gesha Estate

The first episode of the Coffee With Podcast features Matthew Hankes, Heart Transplant Recipient. Matt is a pretty normal guy who experienced an extraordinary thing. He spent an hour talking about finding out he had a heart condition known as ARVC—Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy—at age 15, the lead-up to the transplant, and what it looks like from the other side.

Matt asked that if anything is taken away from this podcast, it is the need for more donors on the transplant list. Sign up, make sure you’re on the transplant donor list, or learn more about what that entails at https://donatelife.net or go directly to registration at RegisterMe.org.

If you have questions about being an organ donor—for example, who can be a donor, how donation is viewed by various religions, or even what can be donated—click the button below. It is likely that Donate Life℠ will have the answers you seek.

IMPORTANT LINKS FROM THE SHOW

* Matt Hankes fundraiser - https://donate.transplants.org/story/Matthankes Tax-deductible donations are distributed directly for medical bills through the National Foundation for Transplants, Inc.

* The United Network for Organ Sharing - https://unos.org/

APRIL IS NATIONAL DONATE LIFE MONTH

Coincidence? Yes. Important? Yes.

Some statistics from Donate Life℠ about transplants:

* 4,000+ individuals are waiting for heart transplants.

* Heart transplants need to be performed within 4-6 hours of being recovered.

* More than 100,000 individuals are on the national transplant list.

* A person is added to the list every 9 minutes.

* In 2021, 6,000 individuals weren’t able to stay healthy long enough for their number to be called—about 17 people on the transplant died per day.

* In 2022, the 1-millionth organ transplant was performed in the United States, more than any other country in the world.

THANK YOU

On the other side of this story is a donor. Someone chose to donate their heart, becoming a hero to the many people who love and care about Matt Hankes. There are those out there mourning the loss of their person. There isn’t much to be known about the donor outside of the fact that their heart was the right heart for Matt. Thank you to them for giving what they could to help others.

COFFEE WITH

Coffee With is a new podcast from Roast! West Coast. It’s on—or will be—all the fun podcasting platforms. Unlike Coffee People and Coffee Smarter, the guests won’t be from the coffee industry. Instead, we’ll share the coffee experience with friends, strangers, and maybe even enemies with a good story to tell.

If you know someone with a good story or two to share, please send us a note at: coffeewithpodcast@gmail.com.

CHECK OUT THESE R!WC INDUSTRY PARTNERS

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Coffee With Matt Hankes, Heart Transplant Recipient