In an exclusive interview with ProperGaanda, Luke Grenfell (@bristoltobeijing), a cancer patient on an inspiring journey shared his story with us. Here’s what we were able to find out about his ‘BristoltoBeijing’ drive. Belonging : Luke grew up in Bristol, United Kingdom, he got his Bachelor Science degree, from the University of Durham. “I studied Biology, Arabic and Russian, later I did my masters in Water science policy and management, in 2018 from Oxford University,” Luke added. He also spent six months teaching at the University of Central Asia, which happens to be a part of the Agha Khan network. “Since the last two years, my bicycle has been my home,” says the 27 year-old cyclist.
Cancer story: Luke was diagnosed in 2018, at the age of 24, “I was working in Siberia, Russia at that time, learning Russian and teaching English. One day I discovered a big, sore lump in my left shoulder so I went back to UK, and doctors told me it was stage 4 cancer,” he told us the details of his diagnosis and how serious it was. Later he had five months of chemotherapy, got surgery on his shoulder, which was then followed with radiotherapy, “I didn’t think I would live to see Christmas, but I’ve been very lucky to still be here,” Luke expressed his gratitude. What is ‘Bristol2Beijing’: Grenfell says that he decided to live a rich, fulfilling life, “I decided that I wanted to cycle across Eurasia (from Bristol, UK to Beijing, China), and I also took a tandem bike with me so I could share the journey with as many different people as possible, including other cancer patients, so that we could show together that everything is possible.” Recently, he came across Northern Pakistan as well, “I’ve always been excited to explore Pakistan, I wanted to go down Karakoram Highway, Tajikistan to Islamabad to see Gilgit-Baltistan region, I also wanted to see how CPEC’s influence is manifesting itself across the world. Exploring Pakistan is a part of my overall journey of BristoltoBeijing,” the cyclist shared his plans with us.
How was your experience: Luke is loving the autumn season in Northern Pakistan, “Right now I am travelling with a friend, TJ Mitchell. We have been cycling from Khunjerab to Islamabad, and last night we were in Chilas, after travelling through the Gilgit-Baltistan region. It has been incredibly beautiful, we saw the autumn colors, yellow and orange trees, it was gorgeous.” He also shared how friendly people have been, asking if they need tea, or anything else. Being vegetarians, Luke and his friend got to enjoy the local food around here, “We’ve been eating lot of chana daal and paratha , they’re delicious. It has been a really wonderful experience.”
What are your future plans: To complete his ‘BristoltoBeijing’ journey, Luke will now be cycling from Islamabad to Lahore and then across India, “Then I’ll enter my final destination, Beijing, China. I am making a film of this journey and I am writing a book about it as well,” the cyclist added, “I want to show it to as many people as possible and make sure they read my book too, and then we’ll see what the future holds.”