We’re opening our Lung Transplant Series with Stuart’s double lung transplant story—co-hosted with Bethany. From the ICU moment of “We can’t save your lungs”, through a recovery “close plan” (yes, the sock test), to a late-night message from his donor’s mother, this is our most personal episode yet.

Released during the Lung Transplant Foundation’s National Lung Transplant Awareness Week and National Lung Transplant Awareness Day (October 9, 2025), we share what organ donation makes possible—and how families and teams can lead with grace when life hits hard.

You’ll hear about:

• The call that changed everything—and the mindset pivot from despair to plan

• The “close plan” for recovery (walk, walk, walk) and the legendary sock test

• Bethany’s perspective: balancing family, sales leadership, and grief

• Grace at work: how teammates and managers can actually help

• A message from the donor’s mother—and honoring the gift

• Practical ways to protect the immunocompromised in your life

Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome & Awareness Week/Day

01:30 Gratitude to Vanderbilt & donor families

06:35 Diagnosis → rapid decline → ICU

15:03 “We can’t save your lungs.” (mindset pivot)

20:48 A match is found & surgery day

24:30 Recovery begins: walk, walk, walk

28:52 The “close plan” & the sock test

32:05 Bethany’s side: family, work, coping

35:00 Grace at work: leadership lessons

38:00 Donor letter - connecting with grief

42:00 How to help + CTAs

44:30 Outro

Listen if you want to: hear a real-world transplant journey, learn how to support loved ones (and colleagues) through crisis, and understand why registering as an organ donor truly changes families on both sides.

Support the show:

📬 Subscribe to the Substack → https://haverin.substack.com

☕ Buy us a coffee with a Ko-fi tip → https://ko-fi.com/haverin

Resources & Links Mentioned:

Lung Transplant Foundation:

🔗https://lungtransplantfoundation.org/

US —Register as an organ donor:

🔗 https://www.organdonor.gov/

UK — NHS Organ Donor Register: 🔗https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/register-your-decision/

Vanderbilt University Medical Center — Lung Transplant Program: 🔗https://www.vanderbilthealth.com/program/lung-transplant

Haverin Substack

Breathing Forward: A timeline of resilience:

🔗https://haverin.substack.com/p/breathing-forward-a-timeline-of-resilience?r=2vmx1l

Where are we with Lung Transplants in 2025?:

🔗https://haverin.substack.com/p/where-we-are-with-lung-transplants?r=2vmx1l

Tacro, Tacro, Tacro! (Explaining our antirejection drugs):

🔗https://haverin.substack.com/p/tacro-tacro-tacro?r=2vmx1l

Jenny McFarland’s transplant podcast (Stuart’s guest episode): 🔗https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/if-youre-going-through-hell-just-keep-going-with/id1486712428?i=1000639375812