1 min read
Mark Scotch met Hugh Smith while traveling from Wisconsin to Louisiana. In a casual conversation, Mark learned that Hugh spent 10 hours a day on dialysis, and was moved to donate a kidney to Hugh, someone he barely knew. From that chance encounter, Mark learned of a voucher program that would allow him to donate to someone close to his home in Wisconsin that would push Hugh to the top of the waitlist in Louisiana. The program began in the early 2000s when Dr. Mike Rees began what became known as paired donation, “where algorithms help match incompatible donor-recipient pairs.” Then an economist, Alvin Roth, helped create “a computerized system to match kidney recipients with compatible living donors” along with other advances that remove obstacles to donations while increasing successful transplants across the globe. Mark realized many people think donations only come from deceased people or friends and family, and are unaware of living donations. He is hoping to change that by cycling over 12,000 miles, so far, to create awareness through his self-organized Organ Trail.
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