Steve Jobs, 'I Almost Died' Waiting for a Liver Transplant

Apple CEO Steve Jobs appeared at Stanford's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital this morning to unveil draft organ donation legislation, according to Mercury News.

The bill, SB 1395 by Senator Elaine Alquist, requires Californians to affirmatively accept or decline organ donation when renewing their drivers license.


The legislation would also create the first "living donor registry" which allows people to sign up to offer one of their kidneys to a sick person. Doctors say kidney donation is relatively safe and doesn't affect your lifespan.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said, "Steve Jobs' was very instrumental in getting us here today. Steve Jobs told my wife about his transplant and she talked to me. Then we had great phone conversations back and forth. ... He knew that others don't have a plane waiting for them to get to a transplant."

Jobs said, "There were not enough livers in California to go around. I was advised by my Stanford doctors to enroll on a list at a Memphis hospital, because it was more favorable to get a liver there."

"I was fortunate," Jobs said referring to his ability to fly cross country in the four-hour window needed to transplant a healthy organ. "Last year, 400 other Californians died waiting. I could have died."


Jobs called the current system "an obscure process" with "no one asking the simple question: Will you donate your organs?"

Speaking on his current health Jobs said, "I'm feeling fine. I almost died. It's been a pretty good last few months."

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