Bike Ride supports organ donation

Submitted by mmccalope | Ascension-Asumption News

Jack Tillery, a resident of Moss Bluff, LA, received a heart and kidney transplant almost 18 months ago. In an effort to express his gratefulness for his life-saving gifts, Tillery is planning the bike ride of his life. Cycling approximately 270 miles from Moss Bluff to New Orleans, Tillery plans to surprise his transplant team at Oschner Medical Center in New Orleans on Wednesday April 27, 2011.

Tillery and his supporters will depart from Moss Bluff on Friday April 22 and ride to Eunice. On Saturday April 23, they will depart from Eunice around 7:30 a.m. and plan to arrive in Krotz Springs around noon. The third leg of the ride will begin in Krotz Springs and end in the Grosse Tete area on Sunday April 24. Monday and Tuesday, April 25 and 26, Tillery will ride from the Grosse Tete area to Donaldsonville and from Donaldsonville to Reserve. On Wednesday April 27, Jack will complete his journey from Reserve to the Oschner Medical Center.

When asked about the goal of his 270-mile bike ride, Tillery explains, “Ultimately, we want to promote organ and tissue donation awareness and speak words of hope and life to others – neither one being greater than the other.” Tillery expresses the purpose of his ride is “three fold – to glorify God through the gift of life, to honor my donor family for unselfishly saying yes to organ donation, which allowed me to receive a second chance at life, and to express appreciation to Oschner Medical Center and my transplant team.”

For more information on Tillery incredible journey, or to schedule interviews and media coverage during his ride, please contact Lori Steele, LOPA Community Educator, 225.788.0092 / lsteele@lopa.org.

Donate Life Louisiana (DLL) is a collaboration between the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency and the Legacy Donor Foundation. The mission of Donate Life Louisiana is to educate the citizens of Louisiana about organ and tissue donation, encourage them to register as organ and tissue donors, and foster family acceptance of the process. We envision a world with no loss of human life or function due to the lack of donor organs or tissues and a society that accepts and supports donation as natural and beneficial.