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Pair Raising Blood-Donation Awareness

By MARY SHEDDEN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 25, 2008

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Starting Wednesday, two area men will embark on a 2,000-mile bike ride aimed at raising blood-donation awareness. Rodney Ford and Bob Wise, both veterans of the biennial Five Points of Life Ride and avid blood donors, are passionate about the nearly 100-miles-a-day rides and the educational stops they will make this year in 30 cities across the southeastern United States. They will start Wednesday in Mobile, Ala., and cross the finish line Oct. 29 in Cedar Key. Wise and Ford are joining 10 other riders on the journey with stops that will highlight blood, apheresis, marrow, organ/tissue and cord blood donations. To follow their journey visit the LifeSouth Community Blood Bank blog at www.fivepointsoflife.org/

Bob Wise, 56, Tampa

Five Points of Life rides: Three. Wise also participated in a similar ride in South Africa in 2005.

Miles a week he's normally on the bike: 130, including riding to and from work every day.

When he's not on the bike: He's a broadband circuit technician for Verizon.

Blood type: A positive

Favorite after-donation treat: Oat and honey granola bars

Started donating: Wise's father coordinated blood drives as part of his work in the Air Force. "He was always first in line," says Wise, who joined his dad in line soon after high school.

Why he's so passionate: Two passions drive Wise: blood donations and cycling. When he learned about the Five Points ride in 2002, he saw an opportunity to invite people to celebrate cycling and become "quiet heroes" by donating blood. His enjoys the scenery on the rides and the energy from the educational stops at schools, parks and health fairs. "High schools and colleges are so much fun. They're wildly enthusiastic." Asked if he had to pick one of his passions over another, he didn't hesitate: "The blood donation is more important," he says. "The biking is more enjoyable."

Rodney Ford, 47, Brandon

Five Points of Life rides: Ford is the only cyclist who has participated in every one of the seven rides held since 1997.

Miles a week he's normally on the bike: 100. He even takes his bike on work trips to stay in shape.

When he's not on the bike: Ford is a national bank examiner for the Treasury Department.

Blood type: O positive

Favorite after-donation treat: Lorna Doone cookies

Started donating: As a student at the University of Oklahoma.

Why he's so passionate: A speech by Hall of Fame baseball player Rod Carew helped Ford discover the difficulties ethnic minorities face in finding bone marrow donors. Carew's daughter died of leukemia, partly because a donor match could not be found. From health fairs at his Temple Terrace church to the cross-country bike ride, Ford recruits blacks to register for the National Marrow Donor Program as part of the blood donation process. An estimated 83 percent of blacks currently on a marrow waiting list will not receive a transplant, only because a match cannot be found. Those odds are more than 20 percent higher than for Caucasians needing a marrow transplant. "Unless you sign up, you'll never know if someone across the country needs your marrow," says.

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