The Survival Project

In this episode of The Survival Project, Jonathan Healy speaks with Sam Yiollaris, founder of Footprints to Africa, a UK charity redistributing surplus stoma supplies to under-resourced hospitals across Africa.
After her colorectal cancer diagnosis and a year living with a stoma, Sam discovered a devastating reality: while life-saving stoma surgery exists in many African countries, access to basic ostomy supplies often does not.
The result? Isolation, preventable suffering, and loss of dignity.
Footprints to Africa now works to collect and redistribute bowel and bladder medical supplies, support hospitals, reduce medical waste, and restore dignity to ostomates across multiple African nations.
This conversation explores:
• Life with a stoma
• Colorectal cancer and IBD
• Global inequality in ostomy care
• Chronic illness and isolation
• Sustainability and medical waste
• The emotional toll of advocacy
• How to donate stoma supplies or fundraise
If you live with Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, colorectal cancer, or an ostomy, this episode will resonate deeply.
Listen now and learn how you can support the mission.
If this episode moves you, follow the podcast and share it.
Donate: https://www.justgiving.com/page/jonathan-footprints2africa?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL&utm_campaign=020
Contact: [email protected]

He’s joined by Liv from Salts Healthcare and Josh, a Salts advocate and Ostique Connect user, to talk about something many people with IBD and stomas experience but don’t always say out loud: isolation.
They dive into Ostique Connect, a free peer-support app designed to help people connect with others who truly understand their stage of the journey, plus the community features like one-to-one chats, the global forum, and resources created with real lived experience. Josh shares how connecting with others has helped his confidence and mental health, and Liv explains why Salts focuses so heavily on patient support and advocacy.
Download Ostique Connect (free): search “Ostique Connect” in the App Store or Google Play📌 Links
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ostiqueltd.ostiqueconnect&hl=en
IOS: https://apps.apple.com/ar/app/ostique-connect/id6463715231

Fear is part of chronic illness. Even when it’s not spoken about, it’s there.
In Episode 21 of The Survival Project, I reflect on the previous ten episodes and explore the role fear has played in my own life, my diagnosis, and the stories shared by my guests.
From fear of relationships, parenthood, failure, and relapse, to self-sabotage, stress, and the nervous system, this episode looks at how fear shows up, why it exists, and how it can quietly shape our choices if we let it.
I share what therapy has taught me about catching negative thought patterns, how fear lives in the future, and why learning to calm the mind and body matters just as much as managing physical symptoms. Drawing on insights from guests including Owen Lancelot, Dr Orla Kelly, Colm Collins, Moira Geary, Nemara Wilde, Lorraine Cooney, Zoe Ryan, Daniel Duckett, and Kenneth Keavey, this episode connects lived experience with biology, mindset, and choice.
Fear doesn’t disappear. But it can be understood, redirected, and used.
This episode is about learning how to respond to fear instead of letting it control your life.
Thanks to Salts Healthcare for supporting this episode and for creating Ostique Connect, an app designed to reduce isolation for people living with IBD and ostomies.
If this episode resonates, you’re not alone.
Episode links:
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ostiqueltd.ostiqueconnect&hl=en
IOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ostique-connect/id6463715231
The hidden power of smiling - Ron Gutman - TED-Ed
TED-Edhttps://ed.ted.com › lessons › the-hidden-power-of-smil...

In this episode of The Survival Project, I’m joined by mindset and nervous-system specialist Moira Geary, known for her work helping people “recombobulate” when life feels overwhelming, chaotic, or stuck.
We explore why self-sabotage shows up even when we consciously want to be well, how the subconscious mind protects us through fear and familiar patterns, and why chronic illness can trap us in constant future-focused anxiety.
Moira shares practical, accessible tools to calm the nervous system, interrupt stress loops, and shift perspective without forcing positivity or reliving the past. We also talk about identity, fear responses, public speaking anxiety, and how mindset work can support physical healing.
This conversation is especially for anyone living with chronic illness, stress, or burnout who feels stuck in survival mode and wants realistic ways to feel more grounded.
🎧 Listen with an open mind.
🔗 Links mentioned in the episode are in the show notes.
What happens when your body is sick but your mind never feels safe?
In this episode of The Survival Project, I sit down with Moira Geary, creator of the QTT method and a specialist in mindset, nervous system regulation, and subconscious patterns. Moira describes her work as helping people “recombobulate” when stress, fear, self-sabotage, or illness take over.
We dive deep into:
Why the subconscious mind pulls us back into old habits

How fear and uncertainty fuel chronic stress

Why people with chronic illness often live in the future

The link between thoughts, physiology, and emotional triggers

Simple techniques to calm the nervous system in real time

Why meditation doesn’t work for everyone and what does

How identity and past experiences shape present reactions

Moira also shares insights from her own health journey, including navigating serious illness, and explains how perspective shifts can create real internal freedom even when external circumstances haven’t changed.
This episode is for anyone living with chronic illness, anxiety, or overwhelm who wants grounded, practical tools rather than surface-level positivity.
👍 If this conversation resonates, like the video
📌 Subscribe for future episodes
💬 Share your thoughts in the comments
Positivity Project:
https://www.moirageary.com/podcasts/the-positivity-project-podcast
This episode is supported by Salts Healthcare
Ostique Connect
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ostiqueltd.ostiqueconnect&hl=en
IOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ostique-connect/id6463715231

In Episode 19 of The Survival Project, I’m joined by hypnotherapist Nemara Wilde (Wilde Transformation), someone who genuinely helped change my life. Years ago, she helped me finally get off cigarettes after failing miserably for a long time, and in this conversation we unpack why habits like smoking are rarely about the habit itself.
We talk hypnotherapy in a way that actually makes sense, how the subconscious drives compulsions, and why so many of us get trapped in spirals of thought that pull us further into stress, anxiety, and overwhelm. Nemara also guides a simple “Lemon Test” that shows just how powerfully the mind influences the body, and she shares practical tools you can use immediately, including thought flipping, self praise, and a morning “power walk” routine to shift your state.
A huge thank you to Salts Healthcare for supporting the podcast and for building tools like Ostique Connect, helping prove that chronic illness does not have to mean isolation.
Download links:
IOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ostique-connect/id6463715231
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ostiqueltd.ostiqueconnect&hl=en