Cycling Across the Country For Lyme Disease, John Donnally Visits Gettysburg

Posted By Brendan Raleigh on Nov 27, 2013 | 1 comment

Cyclist John Donnally visited Gettysburg College as part of the TBDA’s campaign to raise funds for researching a cure for Lyme Disease.

By AnnaMarie Houlis, Editor-in-Chief

24-year-old John Donnally stopped in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania at the Gettysburg Bicycle and Fitness Center, Wednesday, en route of a 4,000-mile cycling journey across the country, as part of the Tick-Borne Disease Alliance (TBDA) Bite Back for a Cure campaign working in conjunction with the Silicon Valley-based Bay Area Lyme Foundation.

In an effort to raise $50,000, Donnally, joined by fellow cyclists and local Lyme Disease advocates, began cycling from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on Sept. 29, and is scheduled to finish in New York City after passing over the George Washington Bridge on Dec. 1. “Then, we’re getting a whole group together at Central Park,” he said.

Galvanizing grassroots support for TBDA’s mission, Donnally is initiating critical conversation surrounding the national health crisis, funding research and promoting advocacy for Lyme and other tick-borne disease diagnostic testing. “There’s a lot of stuff that’s involved with this,” Donnally said. “We’re meeting with so many different patients, we’re speaking with different types of media. It’s been a lot…we only have like a week left in the trip.”

According to findings from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Lyme disease is a national concern, infecting 300,000 people each year—10 times more than previously reported. Lyme and other tick-borne diseases are quickly debilitating, and by 2020, according to Donnally, it is expected that there will be more than 600,000 new cases of Lyme disease every year—one in five of those will likely suffer with long-term symptoms.

However, a lacking awareness and unreliable testing has thus far resulted in treatment delays and misdiagnosis. First recognizing a spate of symptoms at the age of nine and enduring neurological problems, ringing in his ears, migraines, degenerative arthritis in his neck, tendonitis throughout his body and overall tingling and numbness, Donnally, too, was misdiagnosed several times before being told he had Lyme in 2003 and again in 2011.

Donnally is determined to defeat these diseases through his trip across North America. “As I’m going across the country I’m meeting with a lot of patients and support groups, and listening to their stories,” he said. “So it’s a fundraising campaign…and it’s also listening and story sharing.”

While biking across the country can indubitably be exhausting, he said, “I was really sick with Lyme Disease so I was coming back from that, but meeting with the patients is always the best part of this journey. It’s very easy to stay inspired when you’re meeting different people who care about what you’re doing.”

A New Jersey native, Donnally said a personally fulfilling facet of his travels came in riding through Colorado. “Going through Colorado and Telluride, seeing some beautiful sites, that’s always fulfilling. And then there’s the personal challenge of getting over a mountain,” he said.

The campaign has been documented on TBDA’s social media channels and promoted in the media. Visit tbdalliance.org to follow Donnally’s cross-country journey.