KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Although not native to Kodiak, Wes Hanna made an impact on the community which he soon came to call his own. And after some time Outside, he hopes to someday return. Whitney Jones spoke with him on a visit here last week and has this story:
(Hanna 3:08 OC: Music.)
Before coming to Kodiak in 2003, Wes Hanna…originally from a suburb ofSalt Lake City,Utah… says he moved around a lot.He says he came to the island to write for the Kodiak Daily Mirror and planned on sticking around for only a year or two…But after he arrived, he found something that made him want to stay:
Hanna4(:20 I’ve had a kidney disease since I was a child and really it was something that never slowed me down. I never really though twice about it until suddenly I was in hospital and they said it’skidney failure and you’re going to need a transplant.)
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Miles away…people in the Kodiak community heard of Hanna’s condition….
Hanna5 (:31 I got calls and I got letters from Kodiak and even though I was several thousand miles from this place, I was still on the minds of so many people here when I was in the hospital…it was really overwhelming and they were doing a play at the time, they were doing fiddler on the roof and they kind of dedicated the play to me and hope for my recovery.)
Hanna’s brother or sister are going to give him a kidney…but he says if he had asked…he feels many in the Kodiak community would stand up to offer theirs.
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Hanna says he hopes he and Elizabeth eventually get back here to the home they love…a home that loves them back just as much.
I’m Whitney Jones.
