Plover man is on a new mission to promote kidney donation. Here’s what you should know.
The Plover man who gained national fame for donating a kidney to a stranger, is promoting organ donation with a long-distance bike ride once again.
Mark Scotch and his wife, Lynn Scotch, will be heading out later this month to Lubbock, Texas. Scotch will start his marathon ride there on March 9, heading east to end the ride in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a journey of about 1,500 miles. Lynn also is a live kidney donor. She recently underwent the surgery and through her efforts, a 2-year-old boy who has been on dialysis since he was 8 months old was able to get a transplant.
Since Scotch donated one of his kidneys to save the life of Hugh Smith, a jockey who Scotch met in a Natchitoches, Louisiana, brewery, the 67-year-old retired salesman has embarked on a series of long-distance bike rides to raise awareness about the benefits of live organ donation. He has become an independent living donor advocate for the National Kidney Donation Organization, a nonprofit group that provides information and advocates for the living donor process.
Mark has long been an ultra-endurance athlete, a mountain biker who started riding decades ago. This will be the latest in several long-distance rides of more than a thousand miles Mark has undertaken since he donated his kidney in September 2020. During each ride, he stops at dialysis centers, visits people who suffer from kidney disease and approaches media outlets as a way to promote the idea of living kidney donation. He calls the rides and his awareness campaign The Organ Trail.
To kick off Mark's latest Organ Trail ride, he'll be holding a presentation about his efforts along with a Q&A session at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at The Hostel Shoppe, 3201 John Joanis Drive in Stevens Point.
Here are five things to know about Mark Scotch and his Organ Trail mission.
Mark Scotch's donation enabled a jockey from Louisiana to get a kidney transplant
The man that Mark helped when he donated his kidney is Hugh Smith. Mark and Lynn were on a road trip to Texas when Mark stop for a drink at Cane River Brewing in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Hugh was at the bar, and the two got to talking. Hugh is a retired professional jockey who had been injured a lot through his career. His kidneys were damaged from prolonged use of ibuprofen. When Mark learned about Hugh's plight, Mark blurted out that he would be happy to donate Hugh one of his kidneys.
More:A Plover man donated a kidney to save a stranger. Now he's cycling cross-country to raise awareness.
A voucher program enabled Mark Scotch to help Hugh Smith without directly donating a kidney to him
Due to a variety of technical and medical reasons, Mark wasn't able to directly donate a kidney to Hugh. But he learned about the National Kidney Registry Voucher Program, which allows a living donor to choose the best time for their surgery and provides one or more vouchers to people who then get priority to receive a kidney.
Mark Scotch has been an ultra-athlete for years
Mark started mountain biking when he was in his mid-40s "as a fitness thing," he said. Soon he was racing, then racing in longer and longer races, including 24-hour endurance events. He cross-country skies in the winter, and competed in the 31-mile American Birkebeiner in the Cable/Hayward area several times. He also has competed in The Arrowhead 135, a 135-mile ultra race in Minnesota, where competitors go the distance on feet, skis or fat bike. He was one of three competitors featured in a documentary film titled "The Arrowhead 135."
Mark Scotch was a winner of one of USA TODAY's 2021 Best of Humankind Awards
Mark received the Triumph of the Year Award in December 2021 during a presentation hosted by Jenna Bush Hager of TODAY with Hoda and Jenna. Mark explained to USA TODAY why he is so passionate about promoting the cause of live organ donation, especially in combating kidney disease.
"My wife and I both just feel that this is a solvable problem, I mean, as crazy as that might sound," Mark said. "The numbers prove that if enough people know about it and cared enough there wouldn't be any people on the waitlist, let alone dying. ... It's just unbelievable what you can do to change somebody's life."
You can follow Mark Scotch and his The Organ Trail journey online
Mark's website is called The Organ Trail and features details about his mission, the routes he's ridden for the cause and loads of information about what is involved in live donations. It also includes links to become a donor yourself or to donate money to the cause. Find out more at markscotch.com.
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Features reporter Keith Uhlig is based in Wausau. Contact him at 715-845-0651 or kuhlig@gannett.com. Follow him at @UhligK on Twitter and Instagram or on Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Stevens Point Journal: Mark Scotch continues to promote kidney donation on Organ Trail rides
