The Bobby Bones Show recently found itself at the center of a story that began as an awkward voicemail for Eddie and has since turned into something unexpectedly hopeful.
A few weeks ago, a listener named Jess from Syracuse left a message for the show, one that put Eddie in an uncomfortable position. She remembered him once saying he’d donate a kidney if someone needed one, and now she was asking if he truly meant it. Jess had been searching for a donor for quite some time, and the voicemail was a last-ditch effort to reach someone who might be willing to help. When the team replayed the message, the room fell still. It wasn’t hypothetical. It wasn’t a bit. It was a real person in a real crisis. Eddie admitted the timing wasn’t right for him and that he wasn’t ready to take such a big step, but the show’s listeners were paying attention.
One of them was a man named Brian. After hearing Jess’s plea and Eddie’s hesitation, Brian called the voicemail line with a message of his own. He’d been considering donating a kidney for a while, and hearing Jess pushed him into action. He told the show he wanted to help her, either by being her match or, at the very least, donating to someone else in need, which would move Jess higher up the transplant list. Jess called into the show with an update, she revealed that she and Brian had already been texting. Brian had reached out to Rochester, the center handling her case, and had gone through the first steps to get connected to her file. Even if he wasn’t her match, he told her he was still willing to donate his kidney so she could move up the list. For someone facing a five-to-six-year wait for both a kidney and a pancreas, his offer meant everything.
The show brought Brian on next for an update. He admitted he, too, worried at first that it might be a sca, —so much so that he “went into detective mode,” googling the area codes and transplant center numbers Jess had given him. Everything checked out. Once he confirmed Jess was real, he moved forward. Brian told the show he had already completed the initial questionnaire and had spoken with donation coordinators. Because the center was understaffed, the process was moving slowly, but he had begun the in-depth medical history portion. Next would be urine testing, bloodwork, and eventually the answer to the big question: whether he and Jess were a match.
What moved the studio most was Brian’s reason for doing it. He said he believed in doing selfless acts to make the world better, ranging from dropping off donuts at police stations to offering up one of his kidneys. If he could live with one, he figured someone else could live because of the other. The show reassured both Jess and Brian that they were real, that they were safe, and that this connection might truly help save a life. Jess thanked the show for giving her a platform that had reached someone willing to act. She also shared that she’d started a GoFundMe to help with medical expenses after having to redirect her wedding budget toward her health.
The team promised to keep spreading the word, updating listeners, and staying connected to both Jess and Brian as the process moves forward. In a world full of heavy news, one voicemail turned into a reminder that strangers still help strangers and sometimes, those strangers are willing to give more than anyone ever expected.