David Ashley
David Ashley has a passion for the outdoors and endurance sports and a long history of participating in ultramarathons, mountain bike races, and other fitness competitions.
When David was making the decision to donate a kidney, he couldn’t find any stories of other endurance athletes who had donated and continued racing. He created Adventure Kidney to share his experiences and inspire other athletes to consider living donation.
Donor Story: In January 2017, David donated a kidney to a West Point classmate and Army veteran. The summer before, David was on active duty military service as an Air Force Colonel working in the Pentagon when he saw a Facebook post about a college classmate, Chris, who was very ill and needed a kidney. His family members were unable to donate, so Chris faced a wait of up to seven years for a kidney. David decided to get tested, and after a series of screenings he was officially approved as a match. The transplant surgery was a success, Chris has regained his health, and David has more than returned to his pre-donation level of fitness. Since his donation, he has ridden the 2,500-mile Great Divide mountain bike trail from Montana to New Mexico, won the National Championship 30 hour adventure race, and placed first in a 72-hour solo nonstop adventure race across Florida. He also placed third in the High Altitude Obstacle Course Race (OCR) World Championship in Kilimanjaro and set two world records during that competition, for the world’s highest obstacle course and world’s highest fitness class.
Personal: Now retired from the US Air Force, David lives in Arlington, Virginia with his wife and two daughters.