Effortless Ripples

By Bobby McLaughlin

It was the summer of 2016 when I had a bicycle accident, broke my wrist, and had to have it surgically repaired. Fortunately I was able to have it repaired and part of my wrist now includes some bone and tissue from a deceased donor. You see, it was a bad break and to attach the plate and ten screws, the surgeon needed to put some bone and tissue in my wrist to help the process of attaching what now would keep my wrist together.

I was able to write a letter to the donor family to give thanks. It was a powerful exchange of letters with the family and thus began my introduction into the world of donation. About a year later I met someone who had donated her kidney. I was able to learn about the process and even speak to her recipient to hear what life was like before and after her transplant.

I was immediately hooked! Blessed with good health I thought, "why not me?" Pretty quickly I began the evaluation process to see if I would be cleared to be a kidney donor. About 3 months after I began the process I was approved to donate. Not having anyone specific in mind (donating to a stranger), I was able to work with my local transplant center and pick a date for my donation: January 2, 2019.

As soon as we picked the date I felt this feeling come over me: 'there has to be more to this story after January 2'.

And so I began to research and look for other connections in the kidney world.....groups or individuals I might connect with. One connection led to another, and before I knew it I had found a rather large group of kidney donors and advocates around the United States.

January 2nd 2019 came, I donated my kidney, had a swift and complete recovery, and within weeks was back enjoying the active lifestyle I had prior to my donation. A few years back I had found hiking/trekking as an activity which brought me great pleasure on my levels, a nice transition from my college soccer playing days in America.

A similar pattern of discovery soon evolved in my hiking adventures. Local hikes led to longer, more adventurous outings, and before I knew it I was headed to Colorado to climb 14,000 foot mountains, hike in Grand Canyon, and continue to expand my experiences and adventures in the outdoors.

Knowing the need for kidney donation was still very real, I did what I could to raise awareness. And then one day it happened!! My efforts in awareness for kidney donation and my love of outdoor adventures intersected and I had the opportunity to organize a trek Tanzania up Kilimanjaro. We found an amazing guide company, put out a call for interested trekkers, worked with an amazing man to produce a documentary, and 24 of us raised awareness of our climb of Kilimanjaro. It was a huge success!!

Through the experience of Kilimanjaro, it became very clear to me that much, much more could be done to help even more people with awareness adventures. The first trip to Tanzania brought media coverage of about 30 million people, super great by many standards. But there was so much more that could be done, and people waiting for a transplant needed us to tell our story so others might be inspired to consider donating too. It was time to plan a second trip to Kilimanjaro, and also a trip to trek to Everest Base Camp.

It came to our attention that several hundred people started the evaluation process to become a kidney donor after the first Kilimanjaro climb. If 30 million people would see a story, and as a result several hundred begin the process of evaluation, what might an even bigger story do? A target of 100 million media exposure was set, and as of just a few weeks ago we hit that number with our treks to Kilimanjaro and Everest Base Camp!! We hope that 3-4 times as many people will begin the evaluation process after seeing our stories.

Our trek to Everest Base Camp gave us the opportunity to share our story in Kathmandu before we departed for Lukla and the start of our trek. The people we told were amazed with what we were doing, and supported us in any way they could. Once we landed in Lukla to start our trek to Everest Base Camp and back, we had the opportunity to connect with so many people! We felt so grateful to have this opportunity to explore the beauty of Nepal, interact with the friendly and caring people, and raise awareness about living donation.

We have made good friends with many in Nepal in our three weeks spent in this beautiful country. How lucky are we to enjoy our trekking in such an amazing place, and raise awareness for living donation while doing so?

Many of us will continue to raise awareness through these life affirming adventures with upcoming treks in 2024: a return to Kilimanjaro, a trek through the high mountains in Colorado, and an epic adventure through Patagonia. These treks will provide new opportunities for more trekkers to participate in raising awareness. It promises to be a great end to 2023 and an amazing 2024. 

And Nepal, well there is already some chatter from many in our group to return to Nepal in 2025 for another awareness trek in this most beautiful country!

(photos provided by the author)