TheWillpowerPodcast with Will Gordon
by Will Gordon
Told I’d Die Within a Year, I Kept Drinking | Liver Transplant Story
About this podcast
Sobriety podcast featuring real addiction recovery stories and practical tools that actually work.
I'm Will Gordon. Boston school teacher, two-time organ transplant survivor, and a guy who used to hide vodka bottles in places I don't even like remembering.
At 35, my liver and kidneys were done. Doctors said weeks, maybe less. Transplants gave me a second shot. Sobriety gave me everything else.
This isn't some shiny recovery show. It's raw conversations about what addiction actually feels like, how messy getting sober really is, and the quiet moments that slowly pull you back to life.
Every Friday I talk with people who've been to the edge - some still hanging on by their fingernails - and we unpack the doubts, the small wins, the tools that actually work when everything else fails.
If you're fighting cravings, questioning if it's worth it, or just need to hear someone who gets it... this is for you.
Real stories. Real tools. No bullshit.
AND ALWAYS with Respect and Compassion.
🎧 New Episodes Every Friday: One listen could reframe your life.
🙏 Every donation helps keep this content going and reaching the people who need it most. → https://buymeacoffee.com/thewillpowerpodcast
JOIN THE MOVEMENT:
• YouTube: @TheWillpowerPodcast (full video eps—subscribe for the visuals that hit harder).
• Audio Platforms: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible
• Instagram: @thewillpowerpodcast (daily Reels, tips, and community vibes).
• TikTok: @willgordonsober
• Connect Direct: [email protected]. Book a FREE 30-minute sober mentoring session via my Calendly (link in IG bio too)—let's chat if you're ready to flip the script.
"Your greatest comeback starts the moment you decide it's possible." Feel that pull? Hit play. One story could change your lens. Subscribe, and let’s build something unstoppable.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 86 episodes
- Told I’d Die Within a Year, I Kept Drinking | Liver Transplant Story · 1 h 4 min · Season 3 Episode 81Chelsea was told she’d die within a year without a liver transplant, and she kept drinking for nine more months, even in her hospital bed. Two years sober and nine months…
- I Couldn’t Tell My Dying Best Friend I Was Drinking Too Much | Gray Area Drinking · 46 min · Season 3 Episode 80Melissa McGovern, The Sober New Yorker, looked fine on the outside. Then her bloodwork came back: liver enzymes in the 200–300s, near-diabetic blood sugar, and a doctor telling…
- They Were Preparing for My Death | Alcohol, Sepsis & a Liver Transplant Story · 53 min · Episode 79Scarlett Larkley’s alcohol-related liver failure led to sepsis, dialysis and a liver transplant in 2025. This is her honest story of recovery, shame and sobriety. “Everyone was…
- She Drank a Liter a Day. Her MELD Hit 40. · 1 h 2 min · Season 3 Episode 78She drank a liter of vodka a day. Her MELD score hit 40. And she still thought she'd never be able to quit. Welcome to Season 3 🎙️ of The Willpower Podcast. I've been away since…
- “I Hired a Private Investigator on My Husband” — The Partner’s Side of Addiction · 51 min · Season 3 Episode 6Most of us don’t really understand what it’s like to love someone deep in addiction...until we’re living it. In this earnest and valuable conversation, Anita Ondine Smith opens…
- Why Willpower Alone Fails in Addiction (And What Actually Rewires It) · 19 min · Season 3 Episode 5Most people think beating addiction comes down to having more willpower. Chris Hill says that’s one of the biggest mistakes you can make. In this episode, we break down why…
- What Happens After Rock Bottom? Inner Child Work & Honest Recovery | David Deane Haskell · 41 min · Season 3 Episode 4In this raw and honest conversation, author David Deane Haskell joins me to talk about what happens after you survive rock bottom. We dive into trauma, inner child work, shame…
- I Did Kim Kardashian’s Intervention – The Reality of Family Interventions · 37 min · Season 3 Episode 3In this episode, I sit down with Evan Jarschauer, a licensed psychotherapist and one of the most experienced interventionists in the country. Evan has led interventions for…
- I Died for 3 Minutes in a Car Crash… Then God Spoke to Me · 38 min · Season 3 Episode 2Matt Farnsworth had 11 years of sobriety… then everything fell apart. In this raw and powerful conversation, Matt shares how a toxic relationship, a relapse, and a horrific car…
- Liver Transplant Survivor: Nathan Cheatwood’s Raw Story of Rock Bottom to Rebirth · 38 min · Season 3 Episode 1This episode is raw, emotional, and deeply personal. Nathan Cheatwood is a liver transplant survivor who went through end-stage liver failure from alcohol addiction in 2023. He…
- From Heroin Hell to 100K Runs: How Running Saved Shawn Livingston · 55 min · Episode 76Family, that’s Shawn Livingston — four-time felon, heroin survivor, ultra-runner, and living proof that your lowest moment can become your greatest purpose Shawn Livingston went…
- Relapse Isn’t Failure: How Shame Almost Killed My Liver · 35 min · Episode 76Hey everybody, welcome back to The Willpower Podcast. I was a Boston teacher sneaking bottles, blacking out, and waking up yellow-eyed in a hospital bed with doctors telling my…
- Hazelden Betty Ford: Real Recovery When Alcohol Wrecks Your Liver (Joseph Skrajewski) · 14 min · Episode 75This episode is part of Podcasthon 2026 — thousands of podcasts dropping special episodes to spotlight nonprofits and raise funds for addiction recovery. I’m honored to feature…
- “Burnout Felt Like Relapse Fog” – Jon Gustin (@thetireddad) on Sobriety, Dad Life & New Book · 39 min · Episode 74Hey family, it's Will Gordon on The Willpower Podcast. Two years ago yellow-eyed in a hospital bed, kidneys/liver gone from blackouts—docs said two weeks. Two transplants later…
- Rare Liver Disease: Then Transplant, Sepsis & Rejection Nearly Broke Me – Daniel Eadle · 39 min · Episode 73I know transplant hell—yellow eyes, sepsis scares, rejection fears, the mental limbo after waking up with someone else's organ keeping you alive. Two transplants later, sober and…
- Rewire Addicted Brain: Kill Cravings & Heal Fog | Dr. Tiff Thompson · 34 min · Episode 72Three years sober after a liver transplant that almost killed me... but the brain fog, guilt, and that constant pull back to chaos? Still real as hell. In this raw convo with Dr…
- Eyes Shutting Was the Best Part of My Day – Dan’s Brutal Path to Liver Transplant & Sobriety · 51 min · Episode 71Dan Sheridan (@mrsheridanshusband on TikTok, @danman147 on IG) shares the unfiltered story of drinking 18+ tins of Stella + 10 pints daily until liver failure nearly killed him…
- Marine Vet's End-Stage Liver Disease: From 317 lbs to Transplant Fight (MELD 29) · 33 minAndrew Mondragon — Marine veteran, dad, husband, oilfield worker — was diagnosed with end-stage liver disease in June 2025. Dropped from 317 to 190 lbs. MELD score 29. Accepted…
- Amber Hollingsworth: No Tough Love – Early Intervention for Families · 43 min · Episode 70Amber Hollingsworth (@puttheshoveldown), a master addiction counselor with 700k+ on YouTube, joins me to show families how to intervene early with compassion, not ultimatums or…
- Blackout Knife Night & Suicide Attempt: Ryan Barrett's Dark Redemption (2+ Years Sober) · 42 min · Episode 69Ryan Barrett (@ryanbarrett90) should be dead multiple times over: molested at 8, buried the shame in death metal, rebellion, blackouts, hard drugs, a near-fatal car wreck (femur…
