The new Organ Donor public awareness commercial features Olympic bronze medalist Chris Klug, who received a liver transplant less than two years ago. His story is fascinating and inspiring - an unusual version of the American dream.
Diagnosed with PSC
Five years ago, Chris Klug was, as he put it, on top of the world. Twenty-four years old, a championship snowboarder…things were going pretty well. A few years before that, Chris had been diagnosed with a rare liver disorder (primary sclerosing cholangitis, known as PSC), but he had been told that it might not present a problem for 20-30 years. That seemed like an entire lifetime to the youthful and otherwise healthy Klug.
Although Klug resides in Utah, he has long been a fan of Walter Payton, who shared his rare disease. While driving to a training session one day, he heard the news that Payton had died. "I pulled over and started crying," says Klug. "It was the first time that it really hit me that I might die."
Within the next few months, his illness worsened. Eventually, he had to have his bile ducts reopened once a month; then even this procedure didn't help him. His doctor told him that he would have to undergo a transplant.
Waiting for the Gift of Life
It's hard to explain the agony of waiting for a life-saving organ. There is the constant fear that you will die before one is found. There is the guilt of knowing that someone else will have to die in order for you to live. There is the dread of the surgery and the knowledge that many organs are rejected. And there is the constant deterioration of your health.
Chris was moved to the most urgent status on the liver transplant list. But 10 percent of all patients waiting for a liver die before a compatible organ is found. After three months, he was still waiting and he could feel himself getting sicker every day. "I would just get winded after doing one repetition (of weight lifting)," said Klug, whose dream of returning to the Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002 appeared all but over. There was no guarantee that he would live long enough to even watch the Olympics on television, much less compete.
The Call
On July 28, while in Aspen, Klug got the call that an appropriate donor had been found. He rushed to the airport to hop a flight to Denver, but thunderstorms delayed the flight. When he finally got to the hospital, the decision was made to postpone the surgery until the next morning. After a restless night, he underwent liver transplant surgery - widely acknowledged as one of the toughest transplants.
Klug's recovery was phenomenal. Within a week, he was shopping and touring in Denver. But while still in the hospital, he pledged that he would do everything in his power to support organ and tissue donation. "I had received the gift of life," he said. "I wanted to help others in the same situation."
Encouraging Organ Donation in Illinois
Chris' transplant and his come-from-behind victory at the Olympics ensured that every transplant organization in the nation would want to use his story as a testimonial to organ transplantation. TV's were still warm when the Olympian's phone starting ringing off the hook. "I knew I couldn't do it all," said Chris. "But I wanted to do something for Illinois since they had talked to me first and because that's where Walter Payton was from."
Illinois is proud to tell Chris Klug's story as part of Secretary Jesse White's 2002 organ donor awareness campaign.
Chris Klug's website
