Cycling for a greater purpose

What do a physician assistant, a living kidney donor and someone who bikes 640 miles in a week have in common?

The answer: They’re all the same guy. And his name is Zachary Sutton.

That’s right – as far as accumulated lifetime good deeds go, Sutton ranks right up there with the best of them. The PA of 13 years, who now works out of MUSC Health’s transplant clinic in Greenville, tends to downplay his altruism. But when you donate a kidney just because “it’s the right thing to do,” it’s hard to stay invisible for too long. Especially when you’re the first altruistic living kidney donor in South Carolina.

Back in 2008, with just two exams until graduation from the Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies program at MUSC, the then-28-year-old Sutton was about to embark on a new professional career when he learned of an opportunity to do something special. There was a man who had been on dialysis for 15 years. For Michael Cheeks, time was running out. And Sutton, who became interested in organ donation as a kid when a classmate’s brother was hit by a car and lapsed into a coma, knew this was his opportunity to put his money where his mouth was. Or, more accurately, his kidney where his heart was. 

He told a reporter at the time, “I’m a normal person. I’m not a saint,” but that’s a tough sell when you give a part of your body to a complete stranger. Sadly, Cheeks died last year, but Sutton’s gift gave him 12 extra years and a much improved quality of life. And though he took the passing hard – the two became friends and stayed in touch all of those years after – he decided it was time to kick his altruism into high gear once again.

 

Since donating his kidney those many years ago, Sutton set out to prove that being a living donor doesn’t mean you have to slow down.

“Life goes on,” he said. “The truth is as we age – even if we have two functioning kidneys – we change the way we do things. I’m no different.”

He works out five days a week. He runs. Lifts weights. He cycles – a lot.

So when the 41-year-old learned that the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina was sponsoring an event in which several CEOs of the state’s electric cooperatives would be biking from location to location to promote awareness about heart disease, he knew he wanted in. 

During the event, more than 2,000 electric cooperative employees will visit all 21 of the state’s electric cooperatives, while Healthy Me – Healthy SC, the joint program between MUSC and Clemson aimed at improving health care and lessening health disparities across the state, will provide screenings at each location. Sutton’s role? Well, he’ll be looking after the cyclists – from the seat of his own bicycle. 

From Oct. 25 through Nov. 2, Sutton will saddle up and cover 640 miles as the team zigzags across the state, beginning in the Upstate and ending in the Lowcountry. Sure, the big vehicles will carry the bulk of his gear, while a motorcycle escort will protect them from traffic, but he’ll still carry a small first aid kit and an epi pen with him at all times.

“I’ve done a lot of century rides (100-mile races), but this might be a new record for me,” he said. 

Sutton knows the stakes are high in South Carolina.

“Heart disease kills 800,000 Americans each year,” he explained. “And it has not been good to our cooperative family. We lost Brian Kelley, a 42-year-old CEO, two years ago to heart disease. And just this year, a 32-year-old Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative employee was lucky enough to get early intervention for a stroke that could have ended in tragedy.” 

It makes the event’s screenings that much more important. The HMHSC screenings will include free physical exams, blood pressure screenings, stroke education, cardiovascular health education and the importance of pre-hospital care to all electric cooperative participants. Meanwhile, Sutton will be watching his riders for signs of dehydration, allergic reactions, saddle sores, sunburn. 

Though it will require a lot of mental and physical exertion on his part, Sutton is just thrilled to be a part of something promoting living a healthy life. Regardless of how many kidneys riders might have.