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The Nugget Newspaper
Sisters, Oregon
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Locals support Sisters Olympian
By Jim Cornelius

Some local folks will be watching the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City with special intensity this week as their friend Chris Klug hits the slopes in the snowboarding Parallel Giant Slalom.

Klug, who lives in Sisters during the summer, earned the signal honor of helping to carry a flag from the rubble of the World Trade Center in opening ceremonies.

His girlfriend Missy April will be on hand to watch Klug vie for a medal against the best competition in the world. So will her parents, Ray and Pat April of Sisters.

Klug is considered the best U.S. hope for a snowboarding medal and the April family is excited to see him compete.

They also recognize that just getting to Salt Lake City is a great accomplishment for the snowboarding athlete, who faced a grim health crisis after the 1998 Nagano Olympics.

The 2002 Olympics is the pinnacle of a comeback for Klug from a liver transplant that saved him from a potentially fatal degenerative disease.

Klug was diagnosed at age 20 with primary sclerosising cholangitis (PSC). The disease, which blocks the bile ducts, led to the death of football great Walter Payton. After monitoring the progression of the disease for several years, Klug's doctor put him on a donor list.

Symptoms of declining health began to plague Klug, though he maintained a conditioning regimen that would intimidate many healthy people.

Klug had his liver removed on July 28, 2000, and replaced with a donor organ. Then he proceeded to climb back into world class stature in his sport.

As Klug hits the slopes, a group of dedicated fans will be watching from Sisters. Jackie Erickson and her children painted a banner lettered by Dan Little that hangs from the Sisters Elementary School fence wishing their friend good luck.

Klug's qualifying run will be broadcast on Thursday, February 14, at 7:30 p.m. Pacific time. The medal race is set for the following day.

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