Local senior will walk 100 km for kidney research
Hearing someone’s personal story of undergoing a kidney transplant convinced a local senior to participate in a 100 km walk in September.
Lorne Mason, 69, wanted to get involved in creating awareness of kidney disease and raising money to fund research. The personal story of someone who went from perfect kidney function to only six per cent in one year made an impression on him.
“They call it the silent killer,” said Mason, noting that you can’t restore kidney function.
Mason is doing a 5 km walk this weekend at Kin Coulee but that is literally astroll-in-the-park compared to what he signed up for in September.
It will be a 100 km walk on Sept. 8 and 9 starting at Kananaskis and ending at Olympic Park in Calgary.
Ask Mason if it did not seem a little daunting and he gives a nervous giggle.
“Yes, it sounds pretty daunting but I do a lot of walking, an average of 5 to 10 km a day. So this is going to step it up a little bit because the first day is about 37 km and it is through the mountains too, along the highway,” said Mason.
In the next few months he will be increasing his daily walk considerably in preparation.
“My goal is to raise $2,200 and I am sitting at about $800 at the moment,” said Mason, who has been doing clothing drives, garage sales and soliciting donations from individuals. Donations can be made to his campaign online using the link below.
Mason says there is a local group which has participated in the walk in previous years but is not sure if it will again this year, while others are still determining whether they are ready to take on the challenge. There are so many people who are waiting for a kidney transplant compared to the number of donated kidneys, said Mason. Dialysis can improve quality of life but at some point that is not going to be effective anymore.
“It is a life-changing experience — it really is,” he said.
You go from doing your own thing when you want to do it to a tight schedule of doing dialysis. Mason feels the public in general does not understand how many people are affected by kidney disease or kidney failure. Most people don’t realize how easily it could touch their own lives or someone really close to them, said Mason.
To donate to Lorne Mason’s campaign: https://kidney.akaraisin.com/pledge/Participant/Home.aspx?seid=13047&mid=9&pid=3246070
For general information about the Kidney March: http://kidneymarch.ca/