Steve Farber
Steve Farber's kidney problems began when he was a toddler but he had a miraculous recovery and his kidneys began functioning again.

At age sixty, his kidneys began to fail for the second time. At that time, he faced three choices: find a kidney, go on dialysis or die. Finding a kidney seemed like the most appealing option but he quickly learned that even though he was a successful lawyer and had many connections in his community, finding a kidney was a difficult option.

Steve contemplated going to Turkey to buy a kidney, but ethical and safety concerns held him back. It was then that he finally accepted the gift of life from his eldest son, Gregg, who donated his kidney to his dad.

After this difficult journey, he decided to create the American Transplant Foundation to work toward eliminating our nation’s tragic shortage of transplant organs by enhancing donor awareness on many levels, including public policy.

Chris Klug
In 1991, Chris Klug was diagnosed with a rare degenerative bile duct condition called Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC). He learned that the condition would require a liver transplant. It was then that he began the wait for a liver that was available to him and matched his blood type, age and size.

In the middle of a work out nine years later, he finally received the call he’d been waiting for. The University Hospital Transplant Team had found a liver that was a match for Chris. On July 28, 2000, he had a successful liver transplant and was out of the hospital after his surgery in record time—just four days.

He slowly worked his body back into shape and began physical therapy with his trainer one month after his surgery. He was back on the World Cup circuit four months after his surgery and in 2002, he won a bronze medal at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.

Chris is the first athlete ever to win an Olympic medal after successful organ transplant surgery.

Are you, or a loved one, on a waiting list for an organ? Have you had a transplant, or have you donated an organ to someone? We'd like to hear your personal stories about organ transplants. Your story may be featured on SummitForLife.org in the future.

Email your stories to: stories@americantransplantfoundation.org

The American Transplant Foundation retains the right to either publish or withhold stories or communications, and may edit them for length and grammar.

Michael Well's
My transplant would not have been successful without the support of my friends in Washington State, my family and the great medical folks at University of Washington. Also I would not be here without the awareness and kindness of my donor family in their time of great sorrow. I owe them a huge debt of gratitude. I am humbled.

My troubles actually started when I experimented with drugs when I was 17 or 18. I used needles a few times; knew it was not the right thing to be doing and stopped. Who would have known at the time what those few times would lead to?

Flash forward to the summer of 1994 I started to put on a lot of weight. In about a month and half I ballooned up to 246 from 185. I was a walking water balloon. I went to the hospital and was diagnosed with end stage liver disease. It was a nice way to say I had cirrhosis and hepatitis C. It was not a comfort to find out I had an incurable disease. At this time a transplant was not considered an option.

Flash forward to January 1998 and I had been floundering along and decided something needed to be done. So my doctor sent my records to the University of Washington to see about any medical studies I could get on to treat the Hep C. A week later I was told I was not a good candidate for their test and that I needed a liver transplant. That was my only option to get in better health. I was evaluated and put on the waiting list in October 1998.

I was told I would have a 2-3 year wait which didn’t sound too promising. I had a mantra that I said to myself everyday “Positive Thought Breeds Positive Action.” It was important to stay in a positive frame of mind because it was easier to deal with the illness if I wouldn’t have to fight through the negative vibes.

I took a turn for the worse and in October 1999 and was moved to the top list A-1 and after that things moved pretty fast. On December 2, 1999 I received my call for the transplant. I was ready to go. During the pervious week I was called twice to be a back up transplant patient in case any thing went wrong with the original person selected. That was a crazy week.

I was transplanted on the 2nd of Dec. and spent 26 days in the hospital. I had no problems with my recovery and the transplant has been very successful. I get to celebrate my life and my donors by participating in the Summit for Life Race. It will also be my 8th anniversary of my transplant and it’s very important for me to show that people can lead active lives after a transplant. The sky is the limit. So sign up for the race and join us on a life enhancing adventure. You can also sign an organ donor card and let your family know your wishes.