Last year, Apple"s CEO Steve Jobs, underwent a secret liver transplant needed to save his life. The whole ordeal was kept quiet, much like everything else that Jobs and Apple do, but today he spoke up with California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, in order to push for a reform of the state"s process for organ donation.
The current organ donation system in California allows residents to put a pink sticker on their driver"s license should they wish to become an organ donor. However, this means that a lot of people living in the state never consider the option and it goes ignored. The bill that is being promoted by Jobs will mean that it is compulsory for a citizen to either accept or decline the organ donor program when their renew their license, having the effect that a lot more people will be aware of the situation.
When Jobs fell ill and needed a transplant last year, there were not enough usable livers for everybody who needed them – the CEO pointed out that 400 Californians died waiting for their chance to get a transplant at the same time he was, so he got very lucky. Jobs" financial situation allowed him to sign up for a liver transplant in Memphis, and fly to the required hospital when he was needed, though the vast majority of people living in the area (or even around the world) don"t have that option.
According to AppleInsider, Jobs managed to contact Schwarzenegger through the governor"s wife, who is now helping to get the new bill passed. It goes to show how much Jobs is willing to keep back from the world (though, this is a personal and private matter, so one wouldn"t expect him to openly discuss it), even when it"s a matter of life or death.