Teen Pilot Gets Global Cancer-Fighting Mission Off the Ground
Meet an intrepid flier on a unique mission.
Some people conduct telethons to raise funds for causes. Others take to their heels and run for charity. But for 19-year-old Ethan Guo who wants to aid cancer research for children, the sky is the limit. Yes, this young Asian American pilot is flying to the ends of the Earth toward raising 1 million USD. And the plucky youth is going it alone in his modified Cessna 182 airbourne vehicle.
In his ascendency as a daring flier, Guo also hopes to set a world record for covering all seven continents - with nobody in the co-pilot or passengers’ seats. In fact, he has removed the chairs to make place for an extra tank which can keep him in the air for up to 17 hours at a go. Thus far however, Ethan has stretched his craft’s potential to the 8-hour flight between Canada and Greenland. But he is setting his sights on the projected 15 hours between Japan and Alaska.
Yet, rather than having his “head in the clouds”, Ethan is grounded in reality. Yes, he is availing of a satellite connection system with a team on land and locator transmitters so that he can navigate the wily skies in relative safety. Beginning flying lessons at 13, the young man earned a pilot’s licence 4 years later and that too after garnering the permission of his reluctant mother. Plus, so perturbed was Ethan by his cousin being diagnosed with blood cancer at the tender age of 18, that he made it his mission to help save other unfortunates.
And so this determined pilot is literally going the distance in his bid to be a life-safer. His spiritual and physical journey began in Geneva, Switzerland with his ambitious itinerary spanning 60 counties in 150 days. This epic 80,000 km journey will be aptly punctuated by visits to hospitals in various nations and interacting with juvenile cancer patients while also attracting donations from local communities. What has he learned so far? “People are really good everywhere,”, deduces Mr. Guo, “And everyone I meet wants to make the world a better place to live in”.
The globetrotter-on-a-mission is currently in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and a after a brief stop in Doha, Qatar, is landing in Dubai on August 19th. His next conquests include Egypt, India, Japan and North America, before pressing on to South America and Antarctica. It looks like Cancer is up against quite an adversary - one who has the wind in his wings to take his cause to greater heights.
