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"Shep, give me a high five," Joe Erickson says to his dog over the phone.

Phone calls like these are a daily event to help keep Joe present in Shep's life.

As Shep waits for his daily visit with his master, Joe waits in Spokane for a call that will change his life. "You know, every day you've got is a gift at this point," Joe said.

Joe says his blood vessels shrank which ended up over working his heart. He's already been through surgery to replace both the left and right ventricles in his heart.

"Almost a year I've been on this drug that opens the vessels back up, and they are opening up pretty good. You can even see veins in my arms and legs starting to show again pretty good," Joe said.

Now, he's on a list to get a heart transplant but, it's a waiting game. Helping to take care of things back at home is Joe's friend Jacque Evanson.

"His nickname is Mighty Joe," she says, laughing. Jacque has helped organize an event to raise $50,000 for Joe's transplant, but she can't put a price on their friendship.

"He's done some things for me that I've said, there's no other word, but thank you, there's nothing you can do to repay that, you know, it's just been priceless," she says.

Joe's had the same effect on the hospital in Spokane. They send him in to comfort families who are dealing with the same thing he is. "I'm just blessed, and I just have a gift that I can go in and cheer 'em up," Joe says.

But until Joe get his own transplant, he knows how much he's loved.

"I've got some amazing friends who are helping out in a huge way," he says. "You know, the right people are that they come together for you. People always come behind you and stand behind you."

Jacque says they'll have to re-nickname him to Mighty, Mighty Joe. "By the time he gets through this, he might have another 'mighty' tacked on there," she says.

The fundraiser is being organized through the National Foundation for Transplants in honor of Joe Erickson.

It will be held at the Moose Lodge in Black Eagle Saturday, September 11th at 5 pm. Along with the meal there will also be a live and silent auction.

Jacque is also asking people to bring items to auction off.