By Adam Donnelly

Kamloops man ready to take new kidney out on the road to finish cross-country bike ride

Jun 2, 2017 | 2:00 PM

KAMLOOPS — Dale Calibaba has been on a tremendous journey, both literally and figuratively. Calibaba has needed a new kidney for the past 11 years. To bring attention to the need for organ donors, he decided to bicycle across Canada – a ride which he had to stop in 2015, due to complications from his daily dialysis treatments. Now Dale is ready to finish his trip, and he’s doing it without the dialysis machine.

Less than two years ago, Dale Calibaba put his ride across Canada to draw attention to the need for more organ donors on hold.

“It was a tough decision,” Calibaba told CFJC Today, back in September of 2015. “I wanted to finish; I only had six legs left to go.”

The daily dialysis treatments were taking their toll. Dale needed to recuperate, and let the infection heal. Time passed, and Dale began feeling better; as he prepared to take up the final portion of his bike trip, he got an unexpected call.

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“It was almost surreal because I was on hold on the [transplant] wait list,” Calibaba explained. “When I received a phone call to come down to Vancouver, that they had a kidney for me, I wasn’t believing it at first, because I thought when you’re on hold, you won’t get a call.”

Calibaba went to Vancouver and received the transplant last year. Since then, he’s been in training; preparing to complete the ride he started back in 2015.

“Now I’m prepared to head out on Monday to finish the rest of the ride, finally.”

He’s already biked for 85 days, and put in nearly 6,600 kilometres – and with just six legs to go before he reaches Victoria, he says he can’t wait to dip his toes into the Pacific Ocean.

“The thing that kept me going across Canada was reaching the Mile Zero monument in Victoria,” Calibaba said. “When I get there and ride my bike in… the first thing I’m going to do is get off my bike and hung that monument.”

It will be the culmination of a journey — both in distance and in life — that has been quite a trip for Dale.