• 809: The Call

  • Dec 8 2024
  • Length: 1 hr and 2 mins
  • Podcast
  • 5.0 out of 5 stars (7 ratings)

809: The Call

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  • Summary

  • One call to a very unusual hotline and everything that followed.

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    • Prologue: Ira talks about a priest who set up what may have been the first hotline in the United States. It was just him, answering a phone, trying to help strangers who called. (2 minutes)
    • Act One: The Never Use Alone hotline was set up so that drug users can call if they are say, using heroin by themselves. Someone will stay on the line with them in case they overdose. We hear the recording of one call, from a woman named Kimber. (13 minutes)
    • Act Two: An EMT learns he was connected to the call, in more ways than he realized. (16 minutes)
    • Act Three: Jessie, who took the call, explains how she discovered the hotline. She keeps in touch with Kimber. Until one day, Kimber disappears. (16 minutes)
    • Act Four: We learn what happened to Kimber after she called the line. (10 minutes)

    Transcripts are available at thisamericanlife.org

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Profile Image for Douglas D. Bondurant

The Chain

Amazing story! So wonderful how the link between a few people in a life or death experience can bring us together. Jessie is an Angel sent from heaven.

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Profile Image for meismeems

what a wonderful story! real people making a difference and just loving, that changes the world for the people who call.

just everything, so well told, love this so much! you even had the actual people involved tell the story.

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