Three friends from Edgware will take part in an historic fundraising challenge this summer to raise money for blood cancer charity Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. Post Office manager Jayesh Desai, 60, will drive over 8,000 miles from London to Mumbai with his wife, Lata, 59, in honour of their daughter Rinal who was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2010. They will be joined by close friend Jay Patel, 62, in what will be an extraordinary feat of endurance during the warmest months of the year through some of the hottest countries in the world. 32-year-old Rinal recently entered remission for follicular lymphoma following a two-year fight to beat the disease. She was 12 weeks pregnant with her second child when she was diagnosed, and due to the aggressiveness of the cancer and the treatment it required, unfortunately she and her husband, Ket, took the heartbreaking decision to terminate the pregnancy.
During her treatment she wrote a blog updating her friends and family around the world about her cancer experience and raised the awareness of the disease within her community. When Rinal was told she had entered remission it formed the inspiration Jayesh needed to spur him on to undertake the challenge.
The three of them will set off on Tuesday 14 August and travel through 13 countries, aiming to complete the Drivathon in six weeks. Although some of Jayesh’s friends have completed the journey in the past, the political climate is more dangerous now and there are far more risks in their epic challenge. They will attempt the challenge in a specially-equipped Mitsubishi Shogun, as the journey includes driving through the Himalayas in some of the highest driving conditions in the world.
Jayesh says: “I’ve wanted to drive from London to Mumbai since I moved here in 1973, and now we have the opportunity to do it by raising money for such a great cause. It will be physically and mentally demanding, but we are determined to succeed.”
