Donating
Spares Needed!The Organ Trail
A Kidney Donation Journey
Winner of USA Today’s 2021 Best of Humankind Awards!
Early in 2020, Mark Scotch –- a 64-year-old from Wisconsin, retired from a career of selling diagnostic equipment in the paper mill industry –- met Hugh Smith, a 56-year-old former professional horse jockey –- at Cane River Brewing in Hugh’s hometown of Natchitoches, Louisiana. Although neither had ever seen the other before, both men can be described as “guys who never met a stranger.” They soon began to talk and here’s what Mark learned about Hugh.
The Ride South. Mark down a kidney, Hugh up a kidney.
The Mission
Hi! We’re Lynn and Mark Scotch, living kidney donors. We’re here to prove that kidney donors can return to their previous level of activity and good health , functioning only on a single kidney, even if that includes vigorously sustained activities.
Additionally, We’re sharing the knowledge that my wife Lynn and I have gained in the need for living donors and to spotlight those in certain need.
Click on this QR code to learn more about donation.
A guy goes into a bar and comes out with only one kidney…? Really?
The STORY
Well, no — that’s not the beginning of a joke or a bad mystery novel. And it’s not quite accurate that the guy has only one kidney — yet! Let’s back up a bit.
Early in 2020, Mark Scotch –- a 64-year-old from Wisconsin, retired from a career of selling diagnostic equipment in the paper mill industry –- met Hugh Smith, a 56-year-old former professional horse jockey –- at Cane River Brewing in Hugh’s hometown of Natchitoches, Louisiana. Although neither had ever seen the other before, both men can be described as “guys who never met a stranger.” They soon began to talk and here’s what Mark learned about Hugh.
Essential Information
- 13 people die every day in the United States due to a lack of kidney donors/transplants.
- Not enough kidneys are donated each year through deceased donation as only 3 in 1000 potential deceased kidney donors die in a way that allows donation.
- If 10-15 out of every 10,000 people would become a living donor, we could eradicate the waiting list immediately.
- Living donated kidneys last approximately twice as long as deceased donated kidneys, thereby reducing the amount of kidneys needed and the amount of times a recipient needs to go through the procedure during the course of their lifetime.
- Any donor who registers through the Donor Care Network and donates through the National Kidney Registry will receive prioritization for a living donor kidney in the unlikely case that they need a kidney transplant in the future.
- One does NOT have to have a recipient in mind to be a living donor.
- Non-directed living donations allow anyone that feels the urge to donate to do just that, even to a complete stranger.
