Vanessa Heaney

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203 appearances 1 recordings 1 series first heard Nov 2025 last heard 22 Nov

Vanessa Heaney’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Nov 2025 with 1.

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I'm Vanessa Heaney and in this edition... I was crying, his mum was crying.

It was just lovely to see him so happy and healthy.

A woman who donated a kidney to a stranger has met the young boy whose life she saved.

A new technology could dramatically increase the number of available organ transplants.

Also, a media platform run by and for young people with disabilities that's hoping to challenge misconceptions.

Plus, a Grand Prix for cows and an unusual group of knitters.

It genuinely makes it easier to go through life having that thing to do with my hands.

And it has made it so much easier for me to connect with society.

We start the programme with a rare meeting between an organ donor and the young boy whose life she saved.

Ali Coyle had agreed to donate one of her kidneys to a stranger, and she was matched with five-year-old Xavier.

It's unusual for living donors to meet those who receive their organs, as very little information is shared.

But Ali, who's 40 and from Northern Ireland, wrote to the boy's family and included a toy plane from the airline she works for as a pilot.

They used that information to track her down and got in touch via social media.

Xavier's parents, Hira Zahir and Uma Saeed, who live in London, explained why it was important for them to meet her.

Ali was inspired to donate her kidney after failing to match with a friend who needed a transplant.

And Xavier's father, Uma, also donated a kidney to another patient.

Ali spoke to the BBC's Stephen Watson.

I just thought, you know, if it was someone in my family who needed a kidney and someone could donate to them, then I would want them to do that.

So I just thought, well, if I was going to donate to one person, I might as well donate to another person.

To be honest with you, I was delighted because I was very curious about them.

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