When handed news of terminal illness, some cancer patients prepare to face their life’s end. Yet one Texas man is not claiming his diagnosis without a mass-media fight.

Todd Krampitz, a Texas man suffering from cancer, has launched a multimedia advertising campaign including billboard advertisements to attract potential organ donors for a liver transplant he needs to save his life.

Krampitz, 32, was diagnosed with liver cancer in May, just two months after marrying his high school sweetheart, Julie. By July, his doctors said only a transplant would save his life.

The two billboards are visible along one of Houston's busy Southwest Freeway, U.S. 59 and announce 'I Need A Liver – Please Help Save My Life!' The Krampitzs have also bought newspaper advertisements, started a toll-free number, 1-888-How-U-Can, and posted their story on a website, www.toddneedsaliver.com, with updates on his condition, possible donors and a flyer to print out for posting.

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

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, an average 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.

The liver is the second most commonly transplanted major organ, after the kidney, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, which oversees organ donations for the U.S. government. There are nearly 17,500 people nationwide waiting for a liver transplant, with 1,155 of them from Texas. Those patients are ranked in order of need.

While the primary goal of the media blitz is to find a liver donor, Krampitz said he feels the family is also performing a public service.

'It's really getting the word out there that people need to let their loved ones know that they want to donate their organs.'

Krampitz's family has been flooded with phone calls, e-mails and telephone calls since the search began last month. Four potential donors didn't work out for medical or age reasons. Krampitz is seeking a directed donor who would specify that their liver would go directly to him in the event of their death.

'Unfortunately, tragedies happen every day,' the Web site says. 'If you hear of anyone that is in a situation where they could be a donor, they or their family can request that the liver be designated to Todd Krampitz.'

Krampitz's sister came up with the idea for the billboards, but his wife was hesitant at first, worried about perceptions that her husband is unfairly trying to get a liver ahead of others. Many people feel that Krampitz's case is no different than the leagues of other sufferers and that his plight should not push him ahead of others who have been waiting for organs. Dr. Mark Fox, chairman of the United Network for Organ Sharing’s ethics committee believes public pleas for directed donations run the risk of bypassing the established allocation system.

'Those criteria are explicit and they are clinically based,' said Fox, with the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine in Tulsa. 'Not having a level playing field is the concern that many of us have about this phenomenon of public solicitation.'

Yet, Julie Krampitz says her husband's case is different because his cancer has the potential to spread to the rest of his body; Todd has lost 20 pounds and says the pain in his side is growing stronger.

A Houston native, Krampitz operated a digital photography company until he became ill. The couple remains optimistic although it is not known how much longer Todd will survive.

'They haven't given us a timeline right now,' Julie said. 'Basically, it's just a wait-and-see. We're having to wait to get a liver. And it's all we can do right now.'