News from the Sturgis® Motorcycle Rally
WorldRiderZ is the story of Stephane, a 35-year old father who has decided to say no to fatality. A brilliant French entrepreneur who moved to Australia & who's life was shattered at his son Ilhan's birth. He was born with severe kidney disease which changed his whole life and prompted him to try and do something positive.
In 2010 he created WorldRiderZ - an international program for conscious-raising of chronic kidney disease. He launched himself on a 25,000 km journey from Sydney to Paris and created a 6 part TV series which was picked up by the Discovery Channel. Confident with its explosive success, he is back in the saddle to repeat the feat on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
Season 2 of WorldRiderZ starts at Disneyland Paris. The launch of the new series will include a special bmx show including some of Frances finest bmx riders and will be attended by a number of celebrities, including French actor Richard Berry, doctors, politicians and the Australian Ambassador to France. Stepane Etienne gets back on the road with Paul Torriero, his Canadian friend who rode with him in season 1. The two bikers will travel across North America on their Yamaha XT1200Z Super Tenere motorcycles. Same Cause: chronic Kidney disease. Same Target: prevention and awareness. Same Strategy: hospital visits, meeting doctors, patients and locals as well as interacting with media and various personalities along the way.
They will travel from Paris to England, then fly with their bikes to Vancouver, starting point of their trip across Canada. They will travel across Canada, down to New York and then throughout parts of the USA, finally returning to Vancouver at journey's end. A total of 4 countries visited and over 20,000 km in around 3 months on the road. The adventure will be filmed and broadcast on Discovery Channel in early 2013.
"For me, it was very simple, there is no other choice", says Stephane, "I must do all I can to make things move forward. I owe this to my son."
Season 2 of WorldRiderZ is the result of incredible energy and motivation from a family that refuses to give up. Their son Ilhan was born on the 4th of April 2009 in Sydney, suffering from hypoplastic kidneys. Stephane and his wife Capucine decided to overcome the tragedy and make this a strength. They realized the dramatic proportions of kidney disease around the World and the lack of information available. It motivated them to do something about it and try to make a difference.
Around the world, over 550 million people are affected with kidney disease. For many patients, dialysis is compulsory and inhibits their lifestyle greatly. Many others require kidney transplants and again this impacts greatly on their lives, as well as the lives of their family. There are many aspects to kidney disease, and in many cases the right information can help to prevent it.
Riding thousands of kilometers by motorbike motivates Stephane and he is truly a man on a mission. He decided to ring the alarm bell and capture the attention of as many people as possible - creating a conduit for prevention, education, research and treatment. These are the WorldRiderZ objectives.
The first journey was an amazing success : Sydney to Paris, over 25,000 km across 9 countries including Malaysia, India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lybia, Tunisia, Italy and France. 11 hospital visits, conferences, TV and press interviews...A six part TV series on Discovery Networks across over 30 countries. WorldRiderZ was welcomed by key figures including the French Minister of Health Xavier Bertrand, Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, Carole Montillet, Richard Berry...and a special meeting with his Holiness the Dalai Lama, who was inspired by WorldRiderZ's devotion to the cause.
This new season series has lots to offer. It has been built on the momentum generated by series one. The website, www.worldriderz.com will be the official platform. Connected with social networks, it will allow people to follow the WorldRiderZ on their journey. The objective is to reach out to as many people as possible in their quest to create greater awareness.
Once again, Stephane's adventure is possible thanks to the ongoing support of his partners and sponsors.
The WorldRiderZ official partner - L'Occitane en Provence, is a company focused on well-being and natural products. They decided to support Stephane in his project firstly because of his push for greater information and awareness of kidney disease, and seconfly because of his understanding of the importance of a good hygiene and illness prevention. Yamaha has given Stephane 2 XT 1200-Z Teneree, bikes built to travel across the globe in all terrain and weather conditions. Tourism Canada has provided fantastic support for WorldRiderZ on the Canadian leg of their journey across North America.
As Stephane says, "the more of us that know, the better it is. This is our best weapon to raise awareness. Today, we need as many people as possible to join our quest in helping to fight kidney disease, increase the rate of organ donation and transplant".
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