An Ontario man is biking across Canada to raise awareness about the importance of organ and tissue donation after a close friend passed away while waiting for a transplant.
Cayse Ruiter, 25, made a stop in Calgary on Friday for a quick rest before he continues on his 8000 kilometre journey.
The Ottawa native’s Outlive Yourself bike journey is in honour of his close friend Matthew Antolin.
Antolin was just 27 when he passed away in Toronto on December, 16, 2012 while waiting for a heart transplant.
“A very good friend of mine passed away last December. He was on the transplant waiting list and unfortunately his wait was too long,” said Ruiter. “It’s a two-way street. You need to donate, you need to register online just in case you become a donor and hopefully you’ll never need to receive it but if you do, you’ll have it online, you’ll have people willing to donate the organs.
Ruiter started his tour on June 3, in Tofino, British Columbia and will bike to St. John's, Newfoundland over the next two months to raise awareness about the importance of becoming an organ and tissue donor.
“You can save up to eight lives and help improve the lives of seventy-five other people by just one organ donor. So whether it’s your heart, lungs, kidneys, pancreas, intestines, even things you might not think about, heart valves, ligaments, tendons,” said Ruiter.
Ruiter says there is only a 21% donor rate in Canada which is one of the lowest in the industrialized world.
“I think as such a generous country that we are here in Canada, and I’ve seen it already in my travels, that I think we can do better and I think we can have a higher donation rate,” said Ruiter.
On Saturday, he will set out from Calgary for Medicine Hat and hopes to make the trip in one day.
Ruiter averages about 150 kilometres a day and hopes to complete the trip in St. John’s by the beginning of August.
To check out the first half of Ruiter’s route, click here.
You can also track Cayse Ruiter's progress on his twitter account.
(With files from Janet Dirks)
