Apple CEO Steve Jobs thanks liver donor and encourages organ donation

In his first public appearance since his liver transplant in April of this year, Apple CEO Steve Jobs thanked his donor, who was a person in his or her mid-twenties that died in a car crash. Jobs emphasized that he was alive today because of the generosity of his donor. He also publically endorsed and encouraged organ donation by expressing  his wish for audience members at the event to be equally as generous and elect to become organ donors.

Jobs keynote address at Apple's invitation-only event on Wednesday in San Fransisco earned him a 45-second standing ovation. This was his first appearance at an Apple event since October of last year.

Jobs' transplant was somewhat controversial, as he received it at the University of Tennessee in Memphis. A resident of California, Jobs placed himself on the Tennessee registry, where the wait for a transplant is only on average 48 days, compared to 306 days nationally. While the average transplant patient is limited to receiving care at transplant centers convenient to where they live or those to which they are directed by their insurance companies, patients like Jobs, who have more funds at their disposal, have a wider range of choices for their care.

Jobs' reason for transplantation also came into question, as experts speculated that the procedure was a treatment for the neuroendocrine tumor, a rare type of pancreatic cancer, with which he was diagnosed in 2004. No large-scale, controlled studies had been done to assess the benefits of transplants for this type of cancer.

Jobs said of his recovery from the transplant:

I’m vertical, back at Apple and loving every day of it.

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