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Getting the word out on two wheels
By JANEL STEPHENS TAMPA -- Janet Walin listened Friday as bicyclists from the Five Points of Life program shared personal stories of how organ donations affected their lives. She could relate to their stories. Seven years ago, doctors told Walin she would die unless she received a lung transplant. Two years later she got a call from doctors at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, who told her they had found a donor. "This year was the year I wasn't supposed to be alive," said Walin, 48, of Tampa. "I think the waiting was probably the hardest part." Walin was among 70 people who met the 10 cross-country bikers Friday at the LifeLink Foundation in Tampa. The bicyclists had traveled 2,700 miles before stopping here. They cycled down Bayshore Boulevard, where they toured the LifeLink facilities and visited transplant patients at Tampa General Hospital. Their ride will end today with a community family day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Florida Blood Services, 10100 9th St. N in St. Petersburg. The bicycle ride is a LifeSouth Community Blood Center program. The cyclists came from various parts of the United States. They traveled with a support team that provided food, water and first aid during their seven-week journey. There are more than 80,000 Americans on transplant waiting lists, said Cate Boyett, the Five Points of Life coordinator. She said less than 5 percent of the eligible population donates blood in the U.S. each year. Rodney Ford, 41, has been cycling for the program since it began four years ago. He said his focus is to increase the number of African-Americans who donate. "I was able to convince two African-American women to get on the bone marrow registry today," Ford said. "The more people we can get on the registry, the better chance we'll have finding a donor."
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