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Todd Need[ed] a Liver
Mr. Christmas Lights writes "According to this CNN article, Todd Krampitz's liver transplant operation was a success. What is significant about this is how he used a multi-media campaign to get a donor - this included billboards stating 'I need a Liver. Please help Save my Life' that all pointed to his web site at ToddNeedsALiver.com where you can read more. Certainly a novel use of the World Wide Web."
While not as crucial as this one, I can think of two similarly novel uses of the Web to get what one wants.
Karyn Bosnak was $20,000 in the hole and set up SaveKaryn.com. Within a few months she had paid off all her debts from the contributions of strangers. Now she's an author.
Ramon Stoppelenburg wanted to travel around the world but had no money, so he started LetMeStayForADay.com, and managed to hitchhike around the world for a couple of years without spending a dime.
I also seem to recall a far older site called 'Send Me A Dollar', but I don't have the URL to hand now. Does anyone know of any other people who've used the Web for interesting personal gain?
Yup, I'm after a six figure sum for my small but low milage penis.
Every year there are about 45'0000 deaths from Car accidents alone.
Are you a registered Organ Donor?
If more people would be registered, that waiting list would shorten dramatically in a year or two, and this guy would not have had to do this to stay alive.
Or do you have other plans for your organs after you are dead?
get 7 free Japanese lessons.
It does not say on his website exactly how he became the recipient, but I find it hard to believe it came from a direct donation specifically to him.
A quote from the CNN article:
In a statement, Julie Krampitz said "a generous family" donated the organ, and that it was given specifically for her husband.
riding round the world on an old motorcycle
In theory, the sickest person that is compatable is supposed to get the organ. In practice, being rich/famous probably gets you moved up a few places, witness Mickey Mantle and David Crosby, who both got liver's soon after their cases were wildly publicized. I think on the flip side, these very public cases help everyone, because more organs get donated.
Interesting totally off topic side note. Most major instituions prep 2 people for each organ, in case there is a problem with the first person, eg, organ doesn't fit, the 1st patient dies, etc. I worked on a floor, and often was in charge of prepping the "backup" person. He/she would be totally prepped, family by his side, only to be sent home, when the first person was successful. I don't eveny anyone who has to work with these people as they wait their turn. Please people, talk to your family, donate your organs.
Save a Life. Donate Blood. Please.
Despite a liver transplant the chances of long term survival (>5 years) is low for a patient with such a large tumor (~30%). Obviously, much better than not having had the transplant at all. Our prayers should go out to Todd and his family. Interestingly, some transplant centers do "split liver" transplants from a parent to a child, for example, with good success. A normal liver has tremendous proliferative potential and the donor's "half" liver returns to normal size in a few months. I don't think this works, however, when the recipient is an adult.
No I don't think it's ethical, nor do I think, as some posters are claiming, that this publicity is good for the organ donor system in general. What it does is it shows millions of people that the organ donor system is broken and that if you are in need of a replacement organ the only way to get one is by bypassing the established organ network in some way, if you can afford it. That is not a good thing.
The rules that the organ networks use to determine who gets a donated organ and what priority are designed to make the best use of a very limited commodity. The idea is to match organs with people in the direst need and who have the best chances of long term survival after transplant. This approach maximizes the amount of additional "life" the donated organs contribute to society. Todd was lower on the list because the nature of his disease made him a poorer candidate for long term survival post transplant.
So now this schmuck gets a healthy liver because some greiving, gullable family read the psalms on his web page and looked at his billboard and thought he was more deserving than the anonymous stranger whom medical science placed on the top of the transplant list. I think it's sad that people would choose to give such a gift to "that nice boy from the billboards" instead of to society at large.
"Listen: We are here on Earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different!" - Kurt Vonnegut
Because we all know how well organs that would fit well in a 108 year old guy would fit great for a 10 year old girl.