Dubai's Mamzar Triathlon will be a living display of what organ donation can make possible, as three men join forces for a team relay to raise awareness that life after kidney donation can be not only healthy, but full of athletic potential.

Calling themselves Team Three Beans - a playful nod to“kidney beans” - British Dubai resident Jordan Bickerstaffe, American Doug Cutchins, and Jordanian Walid Alotaibi are members of the global group Kidney Donor Athletes (KDA).

The group connects organ donor around the world who continue to compete, run, and cycle after their life-changing surgeries. Though they've exchanged hundreds of messages in a WhatsApp group, Sunday will be the first time they all meet in person.

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“We're a team with three people and only three kidneys - not six,” says Bickerstaffe, laughing.“But at the end of the day, it's about having fun, crossing the line together, and showing that being a donor doesn't hold you back.”

For 31-year-old Bickerstaffe, this will be his first-ever triathlon. A lifelong motorsports and outdoor enthusiast, he's taking on the cycling leg of the 40km race. His journey to this start line began less than two years ago - in a hospital operating room. In December 2023, Bickerstaffe donated a kidney to his fiancée (now wife), Katie, who had lived with type 1 diabetes since childhood and was suddenly diagnosed with stage-five kidney failure.

“She had only 7 per cent kidney function. We were told she needed a transplant immediately,” he recalls.“At that time, the UAE law only allowed living donations from relatives or spouses married for at least two years - and we weren't married yet.” When a new regulation was passed later that year allowing unrelated living donations with Health Authority approval, the couple pressed ahead with the process at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, the UAE's regional transplant centre.

“We were told ours was the first unrelated living donation completed through the new legal process in the UAE,” Bickerstaffe says. Since the surgery, he says, he's become“healthier and fitter than ever”.“There's a misconception that donating an organ makes you weak or sick. My experience has been the complete opposite. I'm two to three times more active now than before I donated.”

Running Spartan races after kidney donation

Doug Cutchins, has been a living donor for more than two decades. Now Director of Global Awards at NYU Abu Dhabi, he donated his left kidney in 2002 to a high school friend named Cheryl.“She was very sick and needed a transplant. I did a lot of research and learned that you can live a full, healthy life afterward,” he says.“It's given me great mental health benefits too - the pride of knowing I helped someone else.”

Cutchins is no stranger to triathlons - he's completed two full Ironman races, the longest and toughest format in the sport, featuring a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle, and 42km run. This weekend, he'll handle the swimming leg for Team Three Beans - his first time doing a relay.“We decided to do it together to raise awareness and show that kidney donors can go on to lead very full lives,” he says.

Joining them on Team Three Beans is 42-year-old Abu Dhabi resident Walid Alotaibi, who donated a kidney to his sister in June 2021. For Alotaibi, the experience sparked a drive to push his limits - literally.“I consider it one of the best things, if not the best thing, I've done in my life,” he says.“Since then, I've run three Adnoc marathons, more than 15 half-marathons, plus Spartan races and 5Ks and 10Ks.”

He'll be handling the running leg in Mamzar this weekend.“Ten kilometres is a simple race,” he laughs.“So, no special training plan this time - just enjoying it.”

Alotaibi first met teammate Doug Cutchins at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon two years ago. The pair connected on the fitness app Strava, and Cutchins later introduced him to Bickerstaffe through the KDA community.“We thought, why not form a team of kidney donors?” Alotaibi says.“It's something meaningful to do together.”

For all three men, the Mamzar Triathlon isn't about medals or finish times. It's about visibility - proving that life with one kidney can still be one of strength, health, and purpose.“At the end of the day, organ donation needs awareness,” Bickerstaffe says.“There are so many people in need of organs - and many who could save them, if only they knew how possible it is.”

As they prepare to meet at sunrise on race day, their message is simple: every donor story is also a story of life - multiplied.“There's no better gift than being able to give life back to someone,” Bickerstaffe says quietly.“It's a feeling I'll cherish for the rest of my life.”

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