Woman Rides 3,000+ Miles To Boost Bone Marrow Registry
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4)- Her rear bicycle tire dipped in the Pacific Ocean and 46 days later Amy Jenkins dunked her front bicycle tire in the Atlantic.
Jenkins joined the small, yet determined, group of people who have successfully biked across the country. The Steamboat Springs woman did it to "mark off her bucket list" and for a far larger cause.
"Anybody can do that. People do that every day, ride your bike across the country, not a big deal… but becoming a bone marrow donor -that's huge!" Jenkins told CBS4's Matt Kroschel on Monday.
She completed the grueling 3,000+ miles and raised nearly $15,000 for the Be The Match nonprofit.
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Imagine riding your bike on back roads and desolate highways through Arizona deserts, the open plains of Texas, the bayous, all to help bring awareness to an important cause many people don't even realize they hold the answer.
Coloradans waiting for a bone marrow match is a long list that desperately needs new people to register to help find more matches.
"I've had three people in my life who have needed a bone marrow transplant. Be The Match is the organization that helps," Jenkins added.
Her ride from California to Florida is a personal mission to get more people signed up for the national registry.
"When the going got a little tough, I would dig a little deeper, look back and think, 'I get a bike, I get to pedal my bike every day.' If I think it's a little tough to get on that bike, that's nothing compared to what people are going through."
A simple cheek swab test is all it takes to find out if you're a match.
Be The Match facilitates more marrow and cord blood transplants every year, including nearly 6,100 transplants in 2017, for a total of 86,000 transplants since 1987.
LINK: Be The Match
Matt Kroschel covers news throughout Colorado working from the CBS4 Mountain Newsroom. Send story ideas to mrkroschel@cbs.com and connect with him on Twitter @Matt_Kroschel.
