By Roy Burton
Utah Statesman
Mike Strauss hates running.
"I always had this theory of never run unless being chased," he says.
But for years, he was chased by a disease that he was told would eventually cause his death if he did not receive a new kidney.
The disease was called primary sclerosing cholangitis, a narrowing of the bile ducts coming out of the liver.
"It's one of those things where you either get a transplant or you die," Strauss said.
Strauss, now director of athletics media relations at Utah State University, was diagnosed when he was 21, between his junior and senior years at the University of Colorado.
He said he told his future wife, Lisa, two things before asking her to marry him.
One: "You're going to have to live with me doing athletic media relations because that's what I'm going to do."
Two: "I have this disease, I could die at any time, who knows what could happen? I may not be around long."
She said yes anyway.
"She was willing to accept that and she's been incredible throughout the whole thing," Strauss said. "She was awesome."
She took care of him when he was sick and took care of their two sons, Brad and Cole.
Strauss' father "was like another doctor," he said, charting his blood tests for years, something that paid off when it came in handy to the doctors who were treating him.
He kept the illness quiet. Few co-workers knew of it.
"I didn't want people to know and treat me differently," he said. "I just wanted them to treat me the way I was and not feel sorry for me."
In the fall of 1995, he was given a chance to accept a liver transplant.
He turned it down.
The decision was easy for him, he said, but tough on his family. He had undergone a blood transfusion and was feeling great without the fatigue that had plagued him for years. Taking the transplant would have been a risk - that his body would reject the organ - but not taking it was also a gamble. There might never be a second chance, another match for him before his time ran out.
"I was taking a chance," he said. "You have to find the right match; it has to be the right size, the right blood type, the right a lot of things. Maybe my condition was going to worsen, I didn't know, but I felt good and I felt I had a better chance to live through the year with my current liver than with a new one. I was feeling too good to take that risk."
His mother was upset with the decision, Strauss said.
"What if you don't get offered another one?" she asked him.
"To me it was easy," he said of the choice. "I looked at it as, there's probably someone out there at this time that needs it more at this time than I do. Maybe we can save that person's life and make his or her life better. It really wasn't a hard decision for me but I think it was hard for some people to understand how I could turn that down."
The gamble worked out. In the spring of 2001, Strauss' liver began to fail. The illness progressed again to the point where he was placed back on the donor list. By September he had been hospitalized a couple of times.
On Dec. 11, 2001, he got a call from LDS Hospital. Late that night, he was given a new liver - a new lease on life.
Now he's using his second chance to promote awareness for organ donation. Along with others in the valley whose lives have been affected by organ donation, Strauss has helped organize the Second Chance 5K Run, which will be held Saturday at 9 a.m., beginning at the USU track and field complex northeast of Romney Stadium.
Registration is $10 until April 3, and $15 on race day. Participants can sign up online at www.idslife.org or at the Spectrum Ticket Office
The organizers hope to turn this into an annual event to support the thousands of people nationwide who are in need of organ donors and transplants, Strauss said.
"It's a pretty good group we have," he said. "They care."
Strauss is going to celebrate his second chance on life this summer by competing in swimming, basketball and golf at the United States Transplant Games in Minneapolis, Minn. in July.
The games are held every two years, and this year they'll be celebrating the 50th year since the first organ transplant. Anyone who has had a transplant is eligible to compete after six months, Strauss said.
He's been working out to get ready for the Games, where his family will be supporting him.
"I've even started running," Strauss said.