“It’s for my Great Aunt Lynn, and the thousands of other brave souls in the world facing their personal battle against cancer, that I am undertaking this challenge.”
This was ACRF supporter Andrew’s New Year’s Resolution for 2014. When he found out in December that his beloved Great Aunt Lynn had been diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer, Andrew knew he had to do something to show his support and love for a woman who had been such an inspiration to him; a woman he described as “brave, pure and a kind-hearted fighter”.
For a while Andrew had been considering completing a cycle from Tokyo Station to Osaka Station (500+ kms) for his own physical and mental challenge, but once he heard about his Great Aunt, he made up his mind to do it ASAP and try to help anyway he could.
Starting at 1am on 31st December, Andrew embarked on the first leg of his journey. His goal was to complete the ride with-in 36 hours of the New Year.
Andrew told us, “The first 90kms was through urban and suburban areas until I got down to the Izu Peninsula, which could be crossed in 40kms or go around the long way in 120kms, so I decided to go over it through the mountains.”
“Still in the dark, I climbed and the road got snowier and snowier and colder! Finally, I made it to the huge lake in the mountains for sunrise, stopped for some rice balls and took off again.”
The half-way mark found Andrew very tired and very sore and not feeling as optimistic as Day One. But his determination, backed up by the reason he took on this challenge in the first place, meant that quitting was never an option.
During these this times Andrew told us, “every time I felt like this I thought: I chose to do this, I chose the pain and I chose the challenge. [My Aunt] and everyone else suffering has no choice but to deal with it, to push through, to accept it and rise above it. That kept me going through the tough stages.”
After an epic three days, during which 557kms was covered in 33 hours riding time, Andrew made it to Osaka Station. Such an amazing achievement by one of our dedicated supporters – we are in awe of Andrew’s commitment and devotion as well as his never-give-up attitude!
In support of his Great Aunt Lynn as well as cancer research in Australia, Andrew has fundraised over $3,200! We are so very grateful for this and we’d like to thank Andrew so very much for his support!
If you would like to find out more – or if you would like to support Andrew with a donation, please visit his Everyday Hero Page here.
Related Posts
