Couple embarks on 1,500-mile bike ride to raise awareness for kidney donations

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - A Wisconsin couple is setting out on a 1,500 mile bike ride in an effort to raise awareness for kidney donations.

Mark and Lynn Scotch are both living kidney donors and Mark an avid bike rider. Over the past three years, the pair have logged nearly 5,000 miles on Organ Trail rides.

The couple urges those who are healthy enough to consider donating their kidneys. Lynn said their passion for spreading the message began in 2020 on a trip to Louisiana where they met a man suffering from kidney failure.

“Just really clicked with this man and he got up to leave and Mark said ‘Oh, come on I’ll buy you one more, stay for a little bit longer,” Lynn Scotch recalled, as the conversation that started it all. “And he kept saying ‘No, I really have to go,’ and finally he said ‘I need to go home and get on dialysis, I’m in stage five renal failure and I need a kidney,’ and Mark said, ‘I’ll give you one of mine.’”

Since that interaction, the couple has learned a lot of information about kidney donation and the desperate need for living kidney donors.

The two are heading for Lubbock, Texas where they will embark on the bike ride to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to spread their message.

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