A WOKINGHAM man who cycled from Edinburgh to Oxford last year to help raise awareness of non-directed (altruistic) living kidney donation, is getting ready to do it all over again.
In 2021, Dennis Carver donated one of his kidneys – he calls it his spare – to a stranger.
Knowing he couldn’t give another, he wanted to do something else to help people suffering from chronic kidney disease (CKD).
Last year, with a team of riders, he cycled from Edinburgh to Oxford, to raise thousands of pounds for Give A Kidney, an organisation that promotes the altruistic giving of live donor kidneys.
“With more than 3.5 million people in the UK alone suffering from CKD, and 5,000 people on the waiting list for a kidney transplant, I wanted to show that living with just one kidney isn’t debilitating in any way,” Mr Carver said.
He believes he proved this last September when he undertook The Transplant Tour cycling 500 miles over six days, and visiting seven of the UK’s 23 transplant centres on the way.
His efforts raised more than £34,000.
“I originally intended this would be a one-off tour, but I’ve been encouraged by the results to do it again,” he said.
He announced his plans at a Give a Kidney supporter’s event last November, when trustee Paul van den Bosch cut a cake to celebrate the 1,000th live donor kidney transplant.
“Since non-directive donation became legal in the UK, it has taken 17 years to reach this milestone,” Mr Carver said.
“I hope it won’t take as long for the next 1,000 successful donations to happen.”
Mr van den Bosch, a donor and a cyclist like Mr Carver, will take part in this year’s mammoth cycle ride.
The tour will take in six new transplant centres on a journey that starts in Cardiff and ends in London, via Bristol, Oxford, Coventry, Leicester, and Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.
“The route will be somewhat easier,” Mr Carver said.
“It’s just 400 miles in all, but it still represents a challenge.
“Staff at the six new centres we’re visiting are working to help make our receptions as memorable as the ones last year.
“Hopefully we’ll have better weather and not so many hills to climb, too, which will make it even more fun.”
Mr Carver is now recruiting cyclists to join him for The Transplant Tour 2024 which will begin on Sunday, September 15.
He invites them to contact him at: www.funraisingtours.co.uk/2024-event
For information visit: www.giveakidney.org
