Something Shifted with Sean Loots

What does it feel like to breathe freely for the first time at 40 years old? Tanya Bothma has struggled with every breath since birth. After a meconium aspiration as a newborn and repeated severe viral infections during childhood, she was diagnosed with bronchiolitis obliterans, a progressive narrowing of the airways that no medication could reverse. By 2017, Tanya's lung capacity had fallen to just 14%, less than one litre of air. That year, she became the first patient to receive a bilateral double lung transplant in a state hospital on the African continent. After the operation, her capacity reached 85%. For the first time, she could shout from the sidelines at her daughter's sports matches, support her husband, and live life without counting every breath. Then, in December 2023, six years after her transplant, Tanya was diagnosed with chronic rejection. In this episode, Tanya shares what it was like growing up with a severe chronic lung condition, the impossible decision to go ahead with a groundbreaking operation carrying a 50/50 survival rate, the grief of losing her brother in the same year as her transplant, and the joy of watching her daughter grow up on lungs she never thought she'd have. She also speaks with extraordinary openness about organ donation; what it means to receive a stranger's gift, what it meant to watch her own brother's tissue help 26 people, and why she believes more people need to understand what organ donation really involves. This episode was originally recorded in 2024 while Tanya was on the waiting list for her second double lung transplant. In December 2025, Tanya received that transplant. Sadly, Tanya passed away shortly after. Her story lives on as a testament to courage, love, and the life-changing power of organ donation. This episode was first published in November 2024. https://www.backabuddy.co.za/campaign/spear-reit-a-new-breath https://odf.org.za/ https://save7.org/ https://podcasthon.org/

In this episode of Something Shifted, True Crime South Africa host Nicole Engelbrecht reflects on how childhood trauma shaped both her identity and her work, telling some of the country’s darkest stories. Nicole Engelbrecht grew up in a world where some stories were never meant to leave the house. Violence, addiction, and instability lived quietly behind closed doors, and like many children raised in chaotic environments, she learned early how to survive by staying small, solving problems, and never becoming another burden. Years later, Nicole would build a career telling some of South Africa’s darkest stories. Listeners often ask how she can immerse herself in crime and tragedy every day and still sleep at night. For most of her life, Nicole believed the answer was simple: resilience. But the truth was more complicated. Nicole traces the hidden survival strategy that shaped her identity. From midnight moves and silent family secrets to raising a child while still in high school and forging her own path at seventeen, she learned to keep moving forward. Then, decades later, a small moment - a passing explanation on a psychology podcast - sparked a powerful lifequake. Suddenly, the resilience she had worn as a badge of honour looked very different. What followed was the slow, brave work of unpacking the boxes she had built to survive: understanding trauma, rewriting old narratives, and discovering that healing does not mean erasing the past; it means integrating it. Nicole’s story is about more than survival. It is about the stories we tell ourselves, and how sometimes those are the hardest stories to share with others. www.somethingshifted.co.za Recorded at Latitude Podcast Studio.

Conn Bertish, a high-performing creative director, faced a rare brain cancer diagnosis at 36. Emergency surgery revealed a medulloblastoma, usually only found in children under five. In a matter of hours, Conn’s life fractured, forcing him to confront who he was; and who he would become. In this episode of Something Shifted, Sean Loots explores how lifequakes - those seismic shifts that upend everything we know - can fracture identity and force us to rewrite the stories we tell ourselves. Conn’s story begins with subtle slurred speech and six-second headaches that escalated into emergency brain surgery and a rare brain cancer diagnosis. For him, this was the ultimate identity interruption. A before-and-after moment that challenged everything he believed about resilience, purpose, and survival. Through courage, self-reflection, and the hidden strategies that make some people harder to kill, physically, mentally, and emotionally, Conn rebuilt his life. This episode dives into the science of resilience, identity after trauma, and the powerful internal narratives we create to navigate life’s most intense disruptions. Listeners will discover: - How a lifequake can fracture identity and change the stories we tell ourselves - The hidden survival strategies that allow people to endure extreme trauma - Lessons on resilience, purpose, and transformation after life-changing events Conn’s journey is more than survival; it’s a testament to the human capacity to integrate life’s upheavals into a stronger, more purposeful self. www.somethingshifted.co.za Recorded at Latitude Podcast Studio

A case for optimism. In the prelude to the new season of Something Shifted, Sean Loots speaks to astrophysicist-turned-journalist and author of "The Bright Side" Sumit Paul-Choudhury, about the science and psychology of optimism. Drawing on stories from Ernest Shackleton's 1915 Arctic expedition, to Sean's "Joy Jar", and the research behind optimistic chickens, Sumit shares how he became an optimist after experiencing great loss.

A case for optimism. In the prelude to the new season of Something Shifted, Sean Loots speaks to astrophysicist-turned-journalist and author of "The Bright Side" Sumit Paul-Choudhury, about the science and psychology of optimism. Drawing on stories from Ernest Shackleton's 1915 Arctic expedition, to Sean's "Joy Jar", and the research behind optimistic chickens, Sumit shares how he became an optimist after experiencing great loss.