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CHAPEL HILL – The National Organ Donor Center reports more than 3,000 people across the United States are waiting for a heart transplant, and Jan Johansson, a 51-year-old bluegrass musician from Wake County, is one of them.

Doctors say a heart for Johansson may take another five months to find.

His friends have been holding benefit concerts to help pay for medical bills that could top $75,000 if he gets a transplant. They're also working with a national nonprofit group that helps patients raise money.

“There are very expensive medications, anti-rejection medications and antibiotics that the patient has to take all of their life after the heart transplant,” Johansson's friend Lennie Green said.

Fixing the heart would also help his loved ones.

“The thought of him being the Jan that I knew when I met him 21 years ago at a bluegrass festival is just so exciting,” his wife, Theresa Johansson, said.

Until then, he's got a device that helps pump blood through his body and will allow him to go home while he waits for a new heart.

“This machine, this left ventricular assisted device, allows you a quality of life up until the point that you have a heart available that far surpasses what our traditional therapies have been,” Dr. Brett Sheridan said.

Through the benefit concerts, Johansson's family and friends have raised more than $10,000 over the past two years. For more information on how to help, visit Johannson's Web site.