Houston man gets liver after billboard ad
By JUAN A. LOZANO
Associated Press
A Houston man's efforts to get a healthy liver through a media campaign, including billboards and a Web site, have paid off as he underwent successful transplant surgery late Thursday night after an unidentified family donated their loved one's organ to him.
Todd Krampitz, a 32-year-old newlywed, was diagnosed in May with liver cancer and by July his doctors said only a transplant would save his life.
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His family decided to mount a media campaign, including two billboards along one of Houston's busiest freeways, and a Web site that detailed his plight and raised awareness about organ donation. Krampitz and his wife Julie also did a series of national media interviews after word of his efforts spread across the country.
Earlier this week, Krampitz told The Associated Press he and his family "pray every night that they call us in the morning and say, 'Hey we have a liver here waiting for you. Come to the hospital and get it.'"
His prayers were answered late Thursday night as a family donated their loved one's liver to Krampitz.
Officials at The Methodist Hospital, where Krampitz received his new liver, said the surgery, which began late Thursday evening and concluded early Friday morning, was successful.
In a statement, Julie Krampitz said "a generous family" donated their loved one's liver to her husband, but she did not elaborate on who the family was or where they are from.
The statement did not say whether the donation was prompted by the media campaign, but it noted that the organ was given specifically for Todd Krampitz.
"We are deeply grateful to this family, and would like to thank the countless people who called and e-mailed over the last week. We are very appreciative of the outpouring of kindness we have received from around the country," she said.
Julie Krampitz said she and her husband want to continue encouraging all individuals to discuss organ donation with their families.
"Organ donation truly is the gift of life," she said. "We are excited that our efforts to find a donor for Todd have served to increase public awareness of the tremendous need for organ donation nationwide."
The liver is the second most commonly transplanted major organ, after the kidney, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, which coordinates the nation's organ transplant system. As of July 30, there were 17,471 people nationwide waiting for a liver transplant, with 1,155 of them from Texas. Last year, 5,671 liver transplants were performed in the country, with 470 of them in Texas.
Officials with the United Network for Organ Sharing, and their affiliates, believe public pleas for directed donations, like what Todd Krampitz did, run the risk of bypassing the established allocation system and can create an uneven playing field for all individuals on the national waiting list for organs
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The young man in Houston got a liver!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
