SOME people fly around the world for a variety of reasons, but Ethan Guo, a 19-year-old Asian-American solo flier, is traveling for a personal reason: to break records and fight cancer.
Guo, who is flying a 50-year-old Cessna 182 Skylane, is on his way to breaking the record for the youngest person in history to fly over all seven continents.
The 19-year-old’s courageous quest began on May 31 in Memphis, Tennessee, and has already carried him across many countries. He is currently in the Philippines and set to fly to Japan tomorrow, Sunday.
The young Ethan’s dream
They say, dreams can only take you really far. And that is literal for Guo, as he has already ticked few of his bucket list in current status of flying. In an interview with a media, he shared that his passion for aviation started at an early age.
“I had my first introduction to aviation at around 13 years old. I’ve always loved aviation since I was a kid. I think the whole concept of aviation and flight was so appealing to me,” Guo shared to the media.
His father first proposed that he take an aviation class. However, he refused the idea due to it being costly and tight schedule it has. He then gave it a shot and finished high school early.
“My parents have always told me ‘it’s your life, do whatever you want’. That’s kind of my parents’ approach to raising me,” Guo said, who received his pilot’s license in Massachusetts at the age of 17.
“So, when I told them I wanted to fly around the world, at first they thought it was a joke. When they realized I was serious about it, my mom freaked out.”
The bigger purpose
Of all, not every aspirations are easy to achieve, especially when they are as expensive as this. Guo started working as a restaurant dishwasher when he was 15 years old to save money.
He also pursued sponsorships by emailing and calling several firms, as well as visiting aviation conferences, all of which resulted in numerous rejections.
After four to five months of nonstop effort, he was able to acquire enough sponsors to fund his project. However, after hearing about his cousin’s ordeal, his voyage took on a new meaning.
“Unfortunately, my cousin got diagnosed with stage 4 blood cancer, so it was really personal…There is nothing I can do to directly help him,” he shared.
Aside from breaking a world record as the youngest person to complete this voyage, the teen is also raising $1 million to fight cancer. Guo is also educating himself by visiting doctors and researchers during his stopovers.
“The whole goal is to get people’s attention by doing something interesting, and then use that attention to bring awareness to a cause that’s even more important,” he said.
Guo has already traveled to North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. South America and Antarctica are the only remaining locations on his seven-continent journey.
The 19-year-old may be flying a small plane, but he is soaring with a big purpose. If this effort is successful, Guo intends to launch a follow-up expedition to help more individuals and tackle larger issues.
