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 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.
