Start your hog for a good cause this Friday. Bikers are invited to bring their motorcycles out this Friday the 13th to raise awareness for organ donation.
Start your hog for a good cause this Friday.
Bikers are invited to bring their motorcycles out this Friday the 13th to raise awareness for organ donation.
“If we can get even one person to sign their donor card then we have won, ” said Barry Radu, co-organizer.
The ride started in September 2013, as the co-founder's wife had a kidney disease and was awaiting a new organ. According to the Canadian Transplant Society's website, every year too many people die while waiting for an organ transplant and despite the 90 per cent of Canadians that say they support organ and tissue donation, fewer than 20 per cent have made plans to donate.
“The ride is not about raising money but about raising awareness … every year the (wait) list gets longer, ” Radu said over a phone interview.
Fortunately, Radu's wife, Gwen, received a kidney transplant last June, but not everyone is as lucky. More than 70 per cent of people needing an organ transplant need a kidney and in 2014 of the 278 people who died waiting for a transplant, one-third of them needed a kidney, according to the Government of Canada website.
“The awareness factor of the ride was my choice, it is close to home for me, ” Radu said.
When the event first kicked off three years ago, the first meeting brought more than 200 motorcycles to Cochrane, but every Friday the 13th since has either been during the winter months or rainy.
This year organizers are hoping for recording breaking numbers.
“There are too many people waiting (for organs) and if this raises awareness then we know we have the right idea and hopefully it will be a nice day for a ride, ” Radu said.
Since the ride started, Cochrane has always been the stopping destination for the meet-up because of how much the organizers “like ” the town and how the historical downtown is “set up. ”
“The even started in Cochrane and that is where it will stay, ” Radu said.
The event invites anyone in the biker community across Alberta to bring their bikes out, “rain or shine ” to meet at the Heritage Coffee House & Legacy Guitar Shop to grab a drink, a sandwich, to chat and raise awareness.
The event does not have a specific time but rather invites people to stop by throughout the day.
“Come early, come later, does not matter. Ride in with friends or ride in alone. Have coffee, have lunch, have dinner, your day is up to you, ” Radu said in a Facebook post.
“Friday da 13th ” will be this Friday at the Heritage House Coffee Co., located at 214 First St. W in Cochrane.
For more information go to “Friday da 13th Cochrane,AB ” Facebook page.
