Episode
Jessica Marquez Shares the Story Behind Her Husband’s Life-Saving Kidney
- Podcast
- Greta Wire
- Published
- May 19, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1905
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- http://www.Newsmax.com/Listen
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Summary
This episode tells the deeply personal story of Greta’s producer, Jessica Marquez, whose husband spent nearly five years on nightly dialysis while waiting for a kidney transplant. Jessica describes the exhausting reality of structuring family life around his treatment, raising a young child during that period, and living with the uncertainty of whether a transplant would ever come. When the long-awaited call finally arrives in September 2024, the relief is immediate but cautious, shaped by earlier false alarms and the fear that something could still go wrong. The story then opens into something even more moving: the discovery of the donor’s identity and the eventual meeting between Jessica’s family and the family of the young man whose organs saved six lives. The donor, Ronald Schowski, was a 27-year-old Navy serviceman who died in a hit-and-run while visiting the United States from Japan. Jessica describes how emotional it was to meet his parents, siblings, and widow, and how the encounter became not just an expression of gratitude but the beginning of a lasting bond between two families linked by tragedy and generosity. The episode becomes a reflection on grief, resilience, organ donation, and the extraordinary way one life can continue through others. Got a comment or question? Send it to [email protected] and it may be used or answered on an upcoming episode. You can watch the video version of the “Greta Wire” podcast on NEWSMAX social media channels, plus YouTube and Rumble, on the same afternoon the audio version launches. Listen to Newsmax LIVE and subscribe to our entire podcast lineup at http://Newsmax.com/Listen Don’t miss Greta every weekday on “The Record with Greta Van Susteren” at 4 PM ET, only on NEWSMAX TV. Watch the show anytime, anywhere with NEW…