The Facebook Post That Led To A Kidney Donation: “You messaged me. And you didn’t know me”
It was 2014, when Kim Pratt was suddenly rushed to the ER. She remembers feeling too weak to stand and was soon diagnosed with septic phenomena. Doctor’s told Kim’s family it was unlikely she would live another 48 hours, and they placed her in a medically induced coma.
But Kim survived and woke up two weeks later.
“The room was full of medical people, and they were discussing how Mrs. Pratt had her dialysis treatment today for five hours. And I was saying to myself, ‘What is dialysis and who are these people?’” she remembers.
That was the moment when Kim first learned her kidneys were failing, and she would need to spend the next five years on dialysis. A long and arduous process, she received three treatments per week, leaving little time for anything else. “When I became sick, everything stopped. I was pretty much a full time dialysis patient,” she said.
All the while she held out hope that she’d find a willing donor.
Middle Photo: The bumper sticker and flier Kim created in 2018 to help her find a potential kidney donor. Courtesy of Kim Pratt.
“It’s an interesting thing when you find yourself needing an organ,” said Kim. “It’s not something you can go rent or buy. You have to rely on the unconditional kindness of another human being.”
Kim came to StoryCorps with her friend, CJ Johnston, to remember what happened next.
Top Photo: Kim Pratt and CJ Johnston at their StoryCorps interview in West Warwick, RI on April 8, 2022. By Eleanor Vassili for StoryCorps.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired March 24th, 2023, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Remembering The Mother of the Disability Rights Movement
Judy Heumann was known as the “Mother of the Disability Rights Movement.” Over the course of decades, she worked to have the government recognize the rights of disabled people— first as a protestor, and later as part of the Clinton and Obama administrations.In 1970, the New York City Board of Education denied her a teaching license because of her quadriplegia— claiming her wheelchair made her a fire hazard. Her subsequent lawsuit was the first ever disability civil rights case brought to federal court, and the springboard to her activism.
Another pivotal moment in her career came in 1977, during the 504 Sit-ins. People with disabilities and their allies occupied federal buildings across the United States to push for a long-delayed anti-discrimination policy. Judy organized the San Francisco contingent, which lasted 25 days, becoming the longest sit-in protest at a federal building in history.
Legislation and programs she helped craft later in her career expanded accessibility to millions of people in the US.
Judy passed away at age 75 on March 4, 2023. To mark her passing, StoryCorps is releasing a conversation she recorded with her friend April Coughlin, about the landmark legal case that would define her career.
Top Photo: April Coughlin and Judy Huemann, in 2018. Courtesy of April Coughlin.
With your support, StoryCorps is able to record more stories that help lift up underrepresented voices, bridge political and social divides, and preserve personal histories for the future.
Little Bit of Me—A Father And Son Look Back On A Life Filled With Music
Seventy-year-old Jim Von Stein was a Navy kid, and grew up all over the country before his family landed in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
He became a draftsman by trade before retiring as an HVAC service technician, where he would crawl under houses installing heating and air conditioning units—hard work that often involved handling hazardous materials.
But if you were looking around his trailer in rural Tennessee, you’d see mountains of songbooks and homemade recordings, and scraps of paper and napkins scribbled with lyrics. These are songs he’s been writing since he was nine years old, that almost nobody has ever heard.
Jason and Jim Von Stein in Birmingham, Alabama, in August of 2018. Courtesy of the Von Stein family.
Jim came to StoryCorps with his son, Jason, to look back on a life of music and the ultimate gesture of love.
Jim and Jason Von Stein on September 18th, 1982, in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Courtesy of the Von Stein family.
Top Photo: Jim and Jason Von Stein at their StoryCorps interview in Chattanooga, TN on April 1st, 2019. By Eleanor Vassili for StoryCorps
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired March 10th, 2023 on NPR’s Morning Edition.
She Was One of the First Black Teachers at Her School, but, “There’s no color when you’re learning to read.”
Eunice Wiley was brought on as one of the first Black teachers at a predominantly white Florida elementary school in 1970. From the start, it was clear her job would be an uphill battle.
Her room had no supplies. The principal didn’t want her to be there. And her class of 20 white first graders had spent little time around Black people.
But she persevered, starting a career in education that lasted until she retired as a principal in 2005.
Wiley came to StoryCorps in 2017 with her friend and fellow teacher, Martha Bireda, to remember how these experiences came to define her as a teacher.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired February 24, 2023, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Top Photo: Eunice Wiley and Martha Bireda at their StoryCorps interview in Punta Gorda, Florida on January 23, 2017. By Vero Ordaz for StoryCorps.
On The Day Their Concentration Camp Was Liberated, Two Former Prisoners Found Love
In 1945, the Allied forces arrived at the Theresienstadt concentration camp and liberated thousands of prisoners – many of whom were Jewish. The front gates swung open and anyone who was able wandered into the nearby town in search of food and clothing. But one woman, Mina Bergman, was sick with typhus, barefoot, and unable to walk. Mina’s sister set off, promising to bring back whatever she could find. She returned with Yehuda Czarnoczapka, who introduced himself and gave Mina a few potatoes and a pair of shoes he’d found. “I think the efforts he went through won her over,” said Susan Moinester.
Passports of Mina Czarnoczapka and Yehuda Czarnoczapka issued in a displaced persons camp in Linz, Austria, after their release. Photos courtesy of Susan Moinester.
Despite the trauma, her parents endured, and Susan remembers growing up in a home filled with love. Her mother had a particular thirst for life that remained unaffected by the war. She loved to attend parties, see Broadway performances, and encouraged her daughters to date and have fun. “That was the harshest demand she placed on me,” remembers Moinester.
Mina Czarnoczapka and Yehuda Czarnoczapka in a displaced persons camp in Linz, Austria in 1945. Photo courtesy of Susan Moinester.
Like many Holocaust survivors, Yehuda and Mina have passed away, but each year Susan and family honor their story of their liberation and enduring romance. Top photo: Margot and Susan Moinester in Memphis, Tennessee in 2022. Photo courtesy of Susan Moinester. This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Originally aired January 27, 2023, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
With your support, StoryCorps is able to record more stories that help lift up underrepresented voices, bridge political and social divides, and preserve personal histories for the future.
The Women Behind The Men – James Brown’s Backing Singers Look Back on Life’s Choices
As a kid growing up in the late 1950s, Sandra Bears used to sit at the top of her basement steps, and watch her older brother’s singing group practice. She and her girlfriends decided they wanted to do the same thing, so they started their own group.
By the time they got to Roosevelt High School, in Washington, D.C., they were recording songs together. One day, they held an audition for a new member, and that’s when they met 16-year-old Martha Harvin. She hit her first note in harmony with the girls… and the rest is history.
3 out of 4 of the members of the girl group “The Jewels” (Sandra Bears, Grace Ruffin, and Martha Harvin pose for a Dimension Records publicity portrait in 1964 in New York, New York. Photo by James Kriegsmann/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Image.
The girls started performing out across the country, and they eventually were invited to a one week show for up and coming artists at the Apollo Theater. Every night they got a standing ovation, but one special night changed the course of their lives.
Martha High performing with James Brown.
Sandra and Martha came to StoryCorps in 2022, to look back on that time, their life choices, and their lasting friendship.
Top Photo: Martha High in Amsterdam, and Sandra Bears in Washington D.C., at their virtual StoryCorps interview on May 14, 2022, for StoryCorps.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired December 16th, 2022, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
10 Years After Sandy Hook: Remembering Jesse Lewis
On the morning of December 14, 2012, a gunman killed twenty six people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty of them were between the ages of 6 and 7.
Six-year-old Jesse Lewis was among those killed.
Jesse Lewis posing for his mom, Scarlett Lewis, on the morning of December 14, 2012. He stands in front of Scarlett’s car, on which he’d written, ‘I love you’ and drawn hearts in the frost. Photo courtesy of Scarlett Lewis.
His mother Scarlett Lewis has spent the subsequent ten years founding and leading the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement, dedicated to creating safer and more loving communities.
She and her mother Maureen came to StoryCorps to share their memories of Jesse and the importance of gratitude.
Maureen Lewis (left) and Scarlett Lewis at their StoryCorps interview in Sandy Hook, Connecticut on November 27, 2022. By Halle Hewitt for StoryCorps.
Top Photo: Jesse Lewis posing for his first grade school photo at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Fall, 2012. Photo courtesy of Scarlett Lewis.
Your support makes it possible for StoryCorps, an independently funded nonprofit, to collect, archive, and share the stories of people from all backgrounds because everyone’s stories deserve to be heard.
“It’s hard all the time.”: A Decade of Agony Since Sandy Hook Shooting
On December 14, 2012, a shooter opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, killing 20 children and six educators. Avielle was one of the children murdered that day. She was six years old at the time.
Jeremy and Jennifer sat down for StoryCorps in 2017 to remember Avielle.
After Avielle’s death, Jeremy and Jennifer had two more children, Imogen and Owen. They also started The Avielle Foundation, a neuroscience non-profit that conducts brain research in order to understand the underpinnings of violence and how to build compassion.
Bottom photo: Jeremy and Jennifer with their daughter, Avielle, at her kindergarten graduation in 2012. Courtesy of Jeremy Richman.
If you or anyone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for help at 1-800-273-8255.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired on December 09, 2022 on NPR’s Morning Edition
Your support makes it possible for StoryCorps, an independently funded nonprofit, to collect, archive, and share the stories of people from all backgrounds because everyone’s stories deserve to be heard.
“We Didn’t Have Time To Be Afraid”: Two Army Nurses Reflect On Serving At The Front Lines
Army veterans Diane Evans and Edie Meeks arrived in Plaiku, Vietnam on the same day in February of 1969. Both were from Minnesota, and they built an almost instant friendship. And they were “hooch” neighbors, so bunked right next to each other.
Diane Evans in Long Binh, Vietnam in 1968. Courtesy of Diane Evans.
In 1969, Plaiku was one of the hot spots of the war, and Diane and Edie worked as nurses on the front lines. They saw casualties of war firsthand, but they never shied away from their job of protecting their patients.
They came to StoryCorps to share their story of service.
Diane Evans treating wounded soldiers at the 36th Evacuation Hospital in Vung Tau, Vietnam in 1968. Courtesy of Diane Evans.
Top Photo: Diane Evans and Edie Meeks at the Vietnam Women’s Memorial in Washington, D.C. Courtesy of Diane Evans.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired November 5, 2022, on NPR’s Weekend Edition.
Your support makes it possible for StoryCorps, an independently funded nonprofit, to collect, archive, and share the stories of people from all backgrounds because everyone’s stories deserve to be heard.
“We Lived Happily Ever After”: Milt And Etta Share Their Love Story
In the summer of 1955, Milt Ehrlich knew he’d met the love of his life. Her name was Etta, and they were both applying to be counselors at a summer camp for children with special needs.
“You’re going to marry me,” he told her. She was initially unsure, so much so she made Milt wait 5 years before ultimately saying yes.
Throughout her life, Etta was consumed by her art and appreciated Milt’s enthusiasm for helping her find the raw materials she would use. He frequented garage sales to hunt for objects such as tools or bottles — so long as they had charm.
Etta and Milt Ehrlich in Prince Edward Island, Canada in the early 1980s. Photo courtesy of the Ehrlich family.
In 2014, the couple came to StoryCorps to record the story of their love, and talk about how they used art and creativity as a vehicle for grappling with aging, grief, and the fear of death.
They were married for almost 62 years, until Etta’s death in August of 2021. She was 90 years old. Milt came back to StoryCorps a year later to remember her.
Top Photo: Milt and Etta Ehrlich on their wedding anniversary in Prince Edward Island, Canada in August. 1985. Photo courtesy of the Ehrlich family.
This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Originally aired Nov. 4, 2022, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Your support makes it possible for StoryCorps, an independently funded nonprofit, to collect, archive, and share the stories of people from all backgrounds because everyone’s stories deserve to be heard.