Pledge organ donation! How is it useful? Learn how liver transplant saved the life and career of snowboarder Chris Klug!
Chris Klug’s degenerative liver disease
Chris Klug is the world-famous snowboard racer who had fought ceaselessly to make the snowboarding sport accepted into the mainstream.
He rose rapidly through the World Cup ranks to win a Bronze medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, Utah.
This was an amazing feat given understanding the fact that Chris Klug had undergone a major transplant surgery on his liver just 10 months before the event and his incredible win.
He has penned all the details of the interim period in his book titled ‘To the Edge and Back: My Story from Organ Transplant Survivor to Olympic Snowboarder’.
Chris Klug, 1993 was diagnosed with a rare degenerative bile duct condition called PSC (Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis).
He had no symptoms then and his doctors had mentioned that he might need a liver transplant somewhere down the lane.
Chris said:
“I thought, Great, dude. I’ll see you in 20 or 30 years.”
He was winning many titles but was getting sicker day by day. His liver had started failing rapidly and soon bile duct infections crept in.
The excruciating right-sided abdominal pain was experienced and it was so severe and unbearable that he was even pondering death.
This was when he heard that his favorite Walter Payton had died of PSC. He started taking his disease seriously from then on.
His body with a height of 6 feet and 3 inches went frail as he lost 20 pounds due to his disease. He was sinking and the only thing that could save his life was a liver transplant.
He waited for a liver that could be compatible with his body and could help him overcome his liver dysfunction.
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The liver transplantation surgery
His wait lasted for 3 months after which he was able to get a compatible liver. He was operated on to have liver transplantation done on him.
He was admitted to the University Hospital in Denver, Colorado. Dr. Greg Everson and his expert team including Dr. Igal Kam operated on Chris Klug on 28 July 2000 to give him a new lease of life.
A liver transplant was done on him in 6 hours of surgery and it was successful. Chris was out of the hospital for a record 4 days.
In less than 2 months’ time, Chris Klug was able to do what he loved the most in his life-snowboarding. There was a surgical incision scar on his abdomen which ran from his sternum down to his navel and to the right. But after the post-op care, he cautiously restarted going to the snowy hills for his snowboarding practice.
Full of gratefulness to the liver donor and his family, Chris Klug said:
“I’m lucky to be alive today. It was truly an amazing experience for me and for my family. To receive the gift of life is a humbling experience. I will forever be grateful for my second chance. Everyday I thank God and I thank the individual’s family for the decision to donate.”
He participated in the 2002 Winter Olympics and won the bronze medal. He also started the Chris Klug Foundation which makes people aware of the usefulness and importance of organ donation.
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Liver Transplant
It is a medical procedure in which the diseased liver of a person is replaced by a healthy one from a donor. It is done for end-stage liver disease.
The donor’s healthy liver is placed and the diseased liver is removed from the patient’s body. Certain drugs are given after the surgery to prevent rejection of the donated liver.
Every year more than 6000 liver transplants are done in the USA alone. The national waitlist for a liver transplant is rather long; around 17000 cases needing transplants are on this list.
Though the wait for a good match liver is long, the time taken for surgery after that is short. The three-year survival rate for patients with a liver transplant is around 78%.
Short bio on Chris Klug
Chris Klug is a professional alpine snowboarder. He has his liver transplant on July 28, 2000, and also continued his career after the transplant.
He was the first transplantee to compete in the Olympic Games and won a bronze medal after receiving a liver transplant in 2000. More bio…
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