Man Wants to Donate Organs While Alive

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A Cherokee County man suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease is leading a push to let people donate vital organs - before they die.

Gary Phebus, of White, was diagnosed with the incurable disease that attacks one's nerve system and muscles in 2008.

He says once he realized he was going downhill, he researched organ donation and learned people often face long waits. He says he wants to give up his organs now, before they deteriorate.

But state and federal laws say that a person must be brain dead before a decision to donate organs can be made. Phebus wants to change that.

Phebus says he doesn't consider his proposal suicide because he's "dead anyway."

AP