With two special people in mind, Thomas “Tommy” Taylor and John “JD” Norton have embarked on a bike ride that will take them from Santa Monica to Boston, with a special stop in Barstow.
During the drive, which began Friday, Taylor will honor his late wife, Thokozile “Thoko” Kesiilwe-Taylor, a nurse who served at Barstow Community Hospital. Thoko, 60, died two years ago after being diagnosed with sarcoidosis, an immune system disorder characterized by the growth of tiny clusters of inflammatory cells in parts of the body.
Taylor will be raising money for the Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research, the country’s largest nonprofit dedicated to finding a cure for the disease.
Norton, 69, will be riding to raise awareness of organ donation and on behalf of his 8-year-old grandson, Broderick, who is in need of a new kidney.
reunion tour
The longtime friends, who grew up in upstate New York, have kept in touch via social media.
“In 1972, JD and I were a bunch of hippies hitchhiking from New York to San Diego,” said Taylor, 70, who lives in Barstow. “We haven’t seen each other for a while, so I guess you could call that a reunion tour.”
The duo plan to arrive at Barstow Community Hospital by 10am Tuesday, where the men can share their journey and celebrate Thoko’s time at BCH, hospital spokesman John Rader told the Daily Press.
“After leaving the Santa Monica Pier, we’re going east most of Route 66 towards the Midwest and then to Boston,” Taylor said. “We hope to spread our messages online and in person as we head to the East Coast.”
The hospital’s CEO, Adam Loris, said that when Taylor approached the hospital about the opportunity to host the reception, BCH jumped at the opportunity.
“Although I didn’t know his wife, Thoko, since I only recently started at Barstow Community Hospital, what I understand from our staff is that she was one of our beloved nurses,” Loris said. “I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Thoko while encouraging Tommy and his riding partner JD Norton in their purposeful cross-country ride.”
Memory of Thoko
“Tuesday would have been our 14th wedding anniversary,” Taylor said. “Thoko was a quiet, compassionate person who loved life and had a heart to serve others.”
Raised in “black oppressed” South Africa and under the cloud of apartheid, Thoko was politically active, voting in the first democratic vote in 1994, Taylor said. Thoko became a US citizen and worked hard to get her nursing license before working in Barstow. She would later buy a house, Taylor said.
I owned my own plumbing business and we had an account with the Barstow Community,” Taylor said. “I met Thoko while doing a job. We started talking and eventually got married.”
After being diagnosed with the disease, Thoko’s lungs were affected. The couple made numerous trips for treatment at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
While the couple worked towards getting Thoko a lung transplant, her health continued to deteriorate.
“Thoko passed away in August 2021 and we brought her back to South Africa for her funeral,” Taylor said. “She has a wonderful family and a strong Christian faith. She loved South Africa and her homeland in the US very much.”
Two weeks before his wife died, Taylor’s 23-year-old son Jason, who had a heart transplant as a child, died suddenly. Taylor also mourned the loss of his sister’s son, Joshua, 41, who died in a motorcycle accident.
As the world came crashing down on Taylor, his nephew told him that as part of his healing, he needed to get out and “do something epic.”
“It was April 7, 2022 when I decided to write JD, who I hadn’t seen in 40 years,” Taylor said. “I asked him if he wanted to drive across America.”
Norton happily agreed to ride along, not just to accompany his friend, but to ride on behalf of Broderick and anyone in need of an organ.
“April is National Donate Life Month to encourage organ donor registration,” Norton said. “It’s a perfect time for riding.”
Norton rides for his grandson.
“Broderick had a traumatic birth, he was born prematurely, which affected his liver and kidneys,” said Norton, an Army veteran who lives in Colorado Springs. “His liver recovered, but one kidney failed and the other remained partially functional.”
Broderick battled COVID-19, but the virus continued to damage his remaining kidney, Norton said.
“If we don’t get a kidney, the goal is for him to get into his teens before dialysis,” Taylor said. “My daughter is helping Broderick with medication and diet, but he is in Stage 4 Chronic Kidney Disease.”
Do something epic
In order to ride 3,000 miles, Taylor sold his business, bought a touring bike, and began long-distance training.
“Part of my training consisted of getting dropped off in Las Vegas and driving about 150 miles back to Barstow,” Taylor said. “The mindset on this journey is to ride 3,000 miles piece by piece.”
Before retiring, Norton was a dedicated bike commuter and worked in the semiconductor industry.
“I also love mountain biking, so I’m always up for a challenge,” said Norton. “I bought a steel frame touring bike and started riding 50 miles about three or four times a week.”
Taylor said he’ll be thinking of Thoko every inch of the way from California to Massachusetts.
“Thoko loved life and she was the love of my life,” Taylor said. “I will always remember our life together.”
To raise funds, Taylor created the Sarkoid Bike Tour GoFundMe account and online site, sarkoidbiketour.com.
Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz can be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz
