A Ride to Save a Life

Mike Cullum and Brenda Cullum love riding motorcycles.

“There’s no feeling like it,” said Brenda. 

Together, they have been on countless rides, but their most recent one held special meaning. On Sept. 21 at Renegade Classics in Pasco, Wash., surrounded by a community of motorcycle enthusiasts, Mike and Brenda revved their engines, kicked up their kickstands, and hit the road for a good cause. 

“A life saved is a good reason to ride,” Mike said.

At the beginning of the summer, Mike decided he wanted to organize a ride to raise awareness for organ donation. He hopes that maybe, the life saved can be his wife’s. 

Brenda says when she’s riding her motorcycle she feels free, and that’s been a feeling that has been hard to come by these days. Since 2017, Brenda has been on dialysis waiting for a kidney transplant. Three days a week, for four hours each day, she’s on a machine that removes excess fluid and waste from her blood. 

“It can feel suffocating,” she says. 

Brenda can’t go far from home, or do the things she loves to do. She has to be within cell service at all times in case she gets a call from her transplant team that a kidney match has been found.

“Getting the call would mean the world to me,” she said. “It would mean I would get my life back. I could ride my motorcycle. I could live again.”

Brenda has been down this road before. In 2000, she received her first kidney transplant at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health (VMFH). Her father was her donor, and the kidney lasted 17 years. 

Today, she’s hoping to find another match.

In the U.S., there are approximately 60,000 people waiting for kidney transplants at any given time. People can wait years for an organ to become available, many waiting upwards of five years.

Mike says the biker community in Kennewick, Wash., where the couple lives, has been incredibly supportive. Every year they put together rides to benefit community organizations.

“They make such a positive impact in the community,” said Mike. 

This year, they raised $850 for transplant services at VMFH. 

“Mrs. Cullum has been with the transplant program here at VMFH for 25 years,” said Christian Kuhr, MD, FACS, surgical director of Kidney/Pancreas Transplantation at VMFH. “She has a wonderful attitude and has been a pleasure to work with all these years. Our team looks forward to seeing her receive a transplant and be free from dialysis.”

Mike says he can’t wait for next year’s ride.
 

Proceeds from the ride benefitted Virginia Mason Franciscan Health Transplant Program. Generous community support not only saves lives but also empowers VMFH medical teams to continue to push the boundaries of transplant medicine. Gifts like this provide support to patients and families before and after treatment, and improve outcomes.