In the early 1990s, Klug had been diagnosed with a rare disease known as Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC), a rare degenerative liver condition that requires a transplant.

It is the same disease that caused the death a decade ago of former star National Football League running back Walter Payton.

Klug was on the transplant waiting list for six years, and during that time he was out care-free, riding his snowboard, playing and training hard. But his health took a turn for the worse in early 2000 and he needed to get serious about being upgraded on the list. He told VOA it was a scary time in his life.

"You know you're hoping and praying for a second chance and not really knowing what your future holds. It's not like all the orthopedic injuries I've had where you go get an MRI or an X-ray and you get it fixed. You've got to hope and hang out and pray for a second chance," the snowboarder said.

Klug got that second chance and remembers it well. It came July 28 in 2000, when a young boy died in a gunshot accident and his parents decided to donate his organs. Klug was the recipient of the boy's liver, and three others also received his organs.

It was during that critical waiting period 10 years ago that Klug decided if he pulled through, he would do everything in his power to help others going through the same thing.

"When I was on the waiting list in 2000, there were 84,000 people in the U.S. waiting for solid organ transplants, and about 15 died each day waiting. You know, at one point I thought I was going to be one of those 15," said Klug.