Two Australian bikers travelling across 14 countries to spread awareness on disease will stop at Sion Hospital today
Two Australian bikers travelling across 14 countries to spread awareness on disease will stop at Sion Hospital todayu00a0
Australian bikers Stephane Etienne and Paul Terriero, who started their adventure from Sydney on July 24, will
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| Riding foru00a0charity: Australian bikers Stephane Etienne and Paul Terriero will raise funds for research on Chronic Kidney Disease |
be stopping in Mumbai today. They may not be the first team to go on a world tour on their two-wheelers, but are definitely the first to ride across 30,000 km and 14 countries to spread awareness and raise funds for research on Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).
Root of causeu00a0
The duo decided to go on this mission after Etienne's baby boy, now 16 months old, was diagnosed with hypoplastic kidneys -- underdeveloped kidney at birth. This has increased the chances of renal failure in mid to late childhood, and would require dialysis treatment or kidney transplant.
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The challenges faced by Etienne lead to the creation of WorldRiderz foundation early this year, an ambitious undertaking to harness popular support for the cause.
The touru00a0
The journey, which began at the Sydney Children Hospital, will end next month in Paris. In the past two months, Etienne and Terriero have travelled across Australia, Malaysia and after meeting the Dalai Lama at Dharamshala and visiting AIIMs they will make a pit stop at Sion Hospital today.
Dr Mita Shah of the Narmada Kidney Foundation, who will also be receiving the bikers, said that their organisation got a call from doctors in Delhi when the bikers had arrived there. "The doctor told us that the duo was very enthusiastic, so we're trying to help them out in every way we can. There's no doubt that kidney disease is on the rise and organ donation will help bring hope to at least some patients."
Dr Sujata Patwardhan of the Zonal Transplant Co-ordination Committee said that this effort should help boost organ donation in the country. "We've only had a few donations this year so we hope that the international effort will help more people come forward," she said.
Five to 10 per cent of the world population suffers some form of kidney disease and about a third of them are children.
Donations in cityThere have been 18 kidney and two liver donations from cadaver donors so far this year in Mumbai. There were 36 kidneys and six liver donations in last year.
