Secretary Of State Launches New Organ Donor Campaign
CHICAGO (AP) - A new ad campaign aimed at encouraging Illinois residents to sign up for the state's organ and tissue donor registry will feature a 13-year-old heart recipient and the daughter of Chicago Bears great Walter Payton.
Secretary of State Jesse White unveiled the new campaign Monday at a news conference at Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital. The television and radio ads will air throughout Illinois in April, which is National Donate Life month. The ads will be in English and Spanish and also be shown on movie theater screens.
Brittney Payton and heart recipient Mikahla Thornton are featured in the ads, saying, "Be an organ donor because to the world you may only be one person, but to one person you may be the world."
The NFL's all-time leading rusher when he retired, Payton was diagnosed with a rare liver disease and then cancer before he died on Nov. 1, 1999.
The ads also feature the Eric Clapton song "Change the World."
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