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Press Release: For Immediate Release
Sports car adventurer confirms epic Indian drive after major heart surgery
- 73-year-old Alan Braithwaite to drive 3500 miles around India in 33 days despite open heart surgery.
- Challenge to start in Mumbai on 1st February 2020.
- Final route will set “massive challenge” for Morgan three-wheeler and its passengers.
- £200,000 fundraising begins in earnest.
Despite the setback of open-heart surgery, 73-year-old philanthropist and businessman, Alan Braithwaite, is determined to undertake his Trans-India Challenge – driving a Morgan Three-Wheeler 3,500 miles across India with his wife Pat – on 1st February 2020.
Having originally planned to leave the West Coast Indian city of Mumbai in November this year, Alan’s “minor difficulty” meant doctors advised him to undergo the surgery as soon as possible. The recovery time led the medics to recommend postponing the Challenge until early next year. As the route will take the couple on a 34-day adventure in an uncovered car, largely on crowded and perilous roads, he chose to take the advice.
After a successful operation at Cambridge’s Royal Papworth Hospital, Alan is now well on the road to recovery, focusing his efforts on raising the £200,000 he has targeted to support Indian aid organisation, Goonj. The money will also be used to fund academic research into the NGO’s ‘circular economy’ model which takes discard, particularly textiles, from urban areas and recycles them as a form of currency to reward social regeneration projects undertaken by rural communities.
Undaunted by his recent medical set-back, Alan stated: “I am in absolutely no doubt the Trans-India Challenge will now happen and that Pat and I will be taking to the Indian roads next February. I’m delighted to have come through the surgery and thank all the staff at Papworth for their amazing care. Now my rehabilitation will include detailed planning and focused sponsorship activities for the Challenge. Looking forward to the challenge in good health will be the best possible motivation for me.”
The custom-built Morgan will now be crated and shipped to Mumbai at the end of 2019, along with a variety of essential parts – including spare wheels and tyres – that will be carried by support vehicles.
The route has also been finalised to maximise the opportunities to visit Goonj’s circular economy projects, offices and collection centres along the 3,500 mile loop. The Challenge will take in major cities including Pune, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Puri, Kolkata, Patna, Lucknow, Agra, New Delhi, Jaipur, Udaipur and Ahmedabad before returning to Mumbai at the beginning of March.
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For further information, or to arrange an interview with Alan and Pat Braithwaite, contact the Trans-India Challenge media office: Peter Brill, David Campbell, Amanda Campbell – media@transindiachallenge.com or 0117 230 9009
To follow the Trans-India Challenge on social media see:
Facebook: @transindiachallenge
Twitter: @TransIndiaChal
Instagram: @transindiachallenge
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/trans-india-challenge
