Mark Scotch from Wisconsin traveled through LaSalle Parish on Saturday, May 15, on a 1,500-mile bicycle journey to highlight living kidney donation awareness.

When contacted by the editor of The Jena Times as they approached Jena, Scotch and crew agreed when their day’s riding ended, they would return to Jena to meet with the editor, his wife, Bonita, and son, Glen, to talk about the living kidney program offered through the National Kidney Registry.

Glen Franklin has suffered from a kidney disease for many years and was required to take a medical disability retirement from the Louisiana State Police several years ago. He has to have dialysis twice a week and has to travel to Pineville for the treatment.

The Franklin family was eager to learn more about the kidney voucher program and Mark Scotch spent more than an hour visiting with the family telling them about the program and learning of Glen’s illness and what may be available.

Scotch said he had never considered donating a kidney until he met Hugh Smith in Natchitoches and learned he needed a kidney. “I thought about it for a while and decided it would be the right thing to do,” he said.

“My ride from the north to the south was planned to call attention to “voucher donor” program,” Scotch said.

The Franklin family learned that unlike the past when someone needed a kidney they had to find a donor who was compatible before they could get a kidney; now anyone who wishes to donate a kidney can do so through the “donor voucher” program and designate someone to receive a kidney.

Mark noted that when he donated his kidney last summer, it went to a recipient in New York. However, he received a donor voucher, which he gave to his friend, Hugh Smith. As soon as a compatible kidney was found in California, it was made available to Hugh. A resident of Natchitoches, Hugh had to travel to Jackson, Mississippi earlier this year, the closest transplant center, to receive his new kidney.

Now, three months after the transplant, Hugh is doing great and has returned to a normal life without dialysis, which he was doing daily before the transplant.

Scotch was told that Glen had undergone surgery for cancer almost two years ago, and was told he had to be cancer free for five years before being placed on the transplant list. Scotch said that was the first he had heard of that requirement, but assured the family that he would check into it, and told the family he would do all he could to help Glen.