A dad has completed a year-long cycling challenge and clocked over 20,000 minutes on his bike after finding out he may need a kidney transplant.
Peter Garrod decided to set himself the goal of cycling 20,222 minutes in 2022 after being told his kidney function was rapidly declining. The father-of-three from County Durham completed the challenge after initially starting with 55 minutes on his bike every day.
Peter was born with two conditions which damaged his kidneys at birth, one, called omphalocele, meant that some of his internal organs were developed outside of his body. Another issue, known as vesicoureteral reflux meant his urine travelled the wrong way, from the bladder back to the kidney. Surgery and medication were able to resolve the issues, but scarring had left him with only 60 per cent kidney function.
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But since the operations, the 34-year-old's kidneys had coped relatively well, but nearly 30 years on, his kidney function began to become a cause for concern. Peter said: “I’ve always led a very normal, active life as that level was fine for my kidneys to do their job. But recently I have started to have problems. My blood pressure went up and I developed gout, which was incredibly painful. My kidney function at my last test was at 29 per cent.”
His consultant had reassured him that he would not have to start any form of renal replacement therapy such as dialysis or a transplant, until his function dropped below 20 per cent. However, at a more recent check-up, Peter’s doctor told him that he would probably need a transplant in as little as two years.
“That was hard for me to hear because it wasn’t a question of focusing on changes I could make with my own lifestyle,” Peter said. “I’ve always been fairly fit anyway, and I don’t drink heavily, but I do try to live as healthily as possible. It hit me hard mentally, and Dr Google didn’t help. I kept working out in my head how old my kids would be when I had to have a transplant and worse, all the things I might miss out on should anything go wrong. I felt like that until I confided in my wife. She said to me, worrying won’t change anything, and it’s not going to create a positive impact."
The chat inspired Peter to start thinking more positively again. He discovered Kidney Research UK and after reading about other people with the condition, he decided to raise money for the organisation. Starting with 55 minutes on his bike every day, Peter decided that he was going to ride for 20,222 minutes in 2022. Initially struggling to find the motivation to get on his bike after a busy day of work and looking after the kids, Peter thought about the people he’d met and the impact that his fundraising would have on other kidney disease patients.
Peter said: “The number of local people who have contacted me who are impacted by kidney disease is overwhelming. Hearing their stories is all the motivation I need to stop scrolling on my phone and jump on the bike. The money we’ve raised is brilliant, but it’s about more than that. It’s the awareness and opportunity for people to share stories, too. That’s something that will live beyond the challenge, and which will stay with me forever.” Peter was able to complete the full challenge within 2022 and raised £7,000 for Kidney Research UK.
He added: “All the messages of support kept me going even when I had little motivation to get on my bike. It has been a pleasure to complete this challenge and support such an amazing charity, I hope that the money we raised goes a little way to make a big difference.”
Emma Ronan-Peate, community and events manager at Kidney Research UK said, “The past year has seen so many inspirational people taking on physical, mental and proactive challenges to raise extraordinary amounts of money for us. With the backing of the kidney community, Peter has managed to raise £7,000 for vital research that will help people like him, and future generations live a better life with kidney disease. Peter can be proud of the fact that his fundraising has given hope to so many patients across the UK.”
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