Former Marine to donate part of his liver to stranger

FRANKFORT, Ill. (WLS) -- After a former Marine overheard a conversation about a young woman in need of an organ transplant, he decided to donate part of his liver to her.

"I thought to myself if I was in that situation I would want somebody to help me or my family," Chris Dempsey said.

After leaving the Marines, Dempsey became a code enforcement officer for the village of Frankfort. One day he heard a co-worker talking about his cousin, Heather Krueger, who had been waiting for a transplant.

When her health took a turn for the worse, doctors suggested she look for a living donor. The surgery is scheduled for later this month, a week before her birthday.

"It's the best birthday present ever. He's saving my life because most likely I was told I would get too sick before I would get a cadaver liver," Krueger said.

"I didn't know how hard it would be to actually be the match, but I just decided that I felt that it was the right thing to do to go and see," Dempsey said.

Dempsey's motorcycle club will hold a fundraiser next month to help cover some of Krueger's medical bills.