Randall Cobb visits hospital patients waiting for organ donations

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WAUWATOSA, Wis. (CBS 58) – There are lots of ups and downs for patients at Froedtert Hospital, but on Wednesday, their spirits were lifted when a Packers star stopped by.

Damien Garza says his health was never an issue until he went to urgent care about a week and a half ago for what he thought was the stomach flu.

“We went to the urgent care and they were like ‘Nah, you have to go to the hospital. Your liver numbers are all over the place. You’re going to have to have a liver transplant or you’re going to die.’ It went from 0 to 60 like that and that was really terrifying,” said Garza.

Garza says getting a new liver could take a while.

“Listening to what they were talking about, it could be anywhere from a couple weeks to maybe a couple months,” Garza said. 

While the wait may be agonizing, it was all smiles in his hospital room when Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb walked in.

As a registered organ donor himself, Cobb says this is an issue close to his heart.

“I had friends pass away. I had things happen to people around me. I always told myself if anything was to happen to me, I would want someone to benefit from my death,” said Cobb.

Cobb spent his afternoon visiting with patients waiting for organ donations and hearing their stories. He wants more people to become organ donors and save lives.

“Anything can change at any given moment so you hope you have people that are there for you,” said Cobb.

“It’s not as bad as it sounds. You’ll definitely save a life and give someone a lease on life which is amazing,” Garza said.

Cobb hopes he can continue to use his star power to bring attention to the importance of organ donation.

For more information on how to become an organ donor in Wisconsin, please click here.


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