Texan campaigns for new liver

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A Texas man suffering from cancer has launched a media campaign including billboard advertisements to attract potential organ donors for a liver transplant he needs to save his life.


Two billboards reading "I need a liver -- Please help save my life" have gone up along Houston's highways in recent days to find a donor for Todd Krampitz, 32, who was diagnosed with cancer in May.


Krampitz and his wife have bought newspaper advertisements and posted their story on a Web site, www.toddneedsaliver.com, with updates on his condition and possible donors.


"Todd's only hope for survival is a liver transplant," the Web site says.


About 70 organ transplants are done every day in the United States, but another 16 people on waiting lists die each day because of a lack of available organs, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.


There are about 17,471 patients waiting for liver transplants, according to Annie Moore, spokeswoman for United Network for Organ Sharing.


Those patients are ranked in order of need, she said.


Krampitz was seeking a directed donor, who would specify that their liver would go directly to him.


Moore said the publicity around Krampitz's case was welcome by UNOS, which oversees organ donations for the U.S. government.


"It does bring increased awareness to the critical shortage of organs," she said