The Chris Klug Foundation (http://www.chrisklugfoundation.org/) for organ donor awareness held its fourth annual Summit for Life event December 12. More than 350 people climbed 3,267 feet to the top of Aspen Mountain to raise awareness for organ donations.
Klug is a World Cup snowboarder who had a liver transplant nine years ago. Klug won a bronze medal in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, becoming the only organ transplant recipient to compete in an Olympic Games. Klug is the author of To the Edge and Back: My Story from Organ Transplant Survivor to Olympic Snowboarder.
Klug also had a sixth place finish in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, four World Cup victories and five National titles. Klug still competes internationally and plans to be at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.
Me with Chris Klug at the 2009 Johns Hopkins Transplant Conference
I had a chance to meet Klug at the Johns Hopkins Annual Transplant Conference last summer. I was also supposed to meet with a nurse after the conference to discuss details about paired donations, but I left early to get back to one of the kids I was supposed to work with. Next time, I think I’ll stay at the conference.
See a video of Klug training at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McuXm3peDV8.
My website is www.mikeneedsakidney.com.
