Tonight’s story of inspiration caught my attention because it involves a man who does a lot bicycling. But more than my love of riding, it’s what he had to go through before the ride of his life and why he did it.
And by ride of his life, I mean that it was quite literally a ride he wouldn’t have been able to make if someone else hadn’t saved his life.
His name is Mike Cohen. He was diagnosed with Leukemia when he was 18. He went through chemo and radiation and reached remission. However, the treatment did a number on his heart. A couple years later it began to fail and a golf ball sized clot formed in one of the ventricles. Doctors installed a special device to help his heart, but it came down to him needing a transplant. Long story short, he got that gift from James Mazzuchelli who had been killed in a Navy training accident.
Mike contacted James’ family. He got himself well enough to get back on a bicycle. And, under doctor’s orders of no more than 4 hours of riding a day with his heart rate under 150 the whole time, he rode from the hospital he received the heart to James’ grave site a trip of 2,300 miles. He had to get some help in places like the mountains and some other tough terrain, but he put in 1,426 of those miles by himself and met James’ parents at the site. And there, handed them a stethoscope to listen to their son’s heart beating strongly.
Read more about their story at this link.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/good-news/this-biker-rode-1426-miles-to-meet-the-family-of-his-organ-donor/ar-BB1g6RNI