Teen Vies for Record Solo Flight to 7 Continents to Raise Money for Childhood Cancer Research

American pilot Ethan Guo poses for the photographer in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, before his take off from Geneva Airport for attempting world record solo flight to all seven continents. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)
American pilot Ethan Guo poses for the photographer in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, before his take off from Geneva Airport for attempting world record solo flight to all seven continents. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)
TT

Teen Vies for Record Solo Flight to 7 Continents to Raise Money for Childhood Cancer Research

American pilot Ethan Guo poses for the photographer in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, before his take off from Geneva Airport for attempting world record solo flight to all seven continents. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)
American pilot Ethan Guo poses for the photographer in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, before his take off from Geneva Airport for attempting world record solo flight to all seven continents. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

A Chinese American teen is vying to become the youngest person to fly solo to all seven continents in a quest that also aims to drum up donations for research into childhood cancer.

Ethan Guo, who turned 19 last month, began his quest in May in Memphis, Tennessee. He made multiple overnight stops and visited seven countries to get to the Swiss city of Geneva on Tuesday, before jetting off toward Heraklion in Greece, The Associated Press reported.

The plan is to cover 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometers) over 100 days with stops in 60 countries. He hopes attention to the journey will drum up donations and raise up to $1 million for cancer research, an ambition born of the Stage-4 blood cancer diagnosis for a cousin of his.

That prompted the tousled-haired teen to reach out to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital based in Memphis.

“We came up with the idea of ... how we can work on this together,” Guo said, "how we can make this world a better place.”

So far, he has raised about $20,000, but he's convinced he will draw more donations.

A press handler for Guo showed The Associated Press an email exchange with an official at Guinness World Records Ltd. about the teen's hope to become the youngest person to fly solo to seven continents. The London-based company did not immediately respond to an email from the AP seeking comment.

Guo started learning to fly at age 13, and four years later had his pilot's license, but insurance companies balked at covering a minor for his adventure, so he had to wait. He has clocked 700 flight hours and flown to all of the 48 contiguous states in the US.

On the tarmac near Geneva airport, Guo said only about one in 10 of the companies he pitched to become sponsors actually came through.

Logos of companies large and small adorn Guo's modified four-seater Cessna 182. Visitors can track his progress on the website flightagainstcancer.com.

Born in Tianjin, China, and currently living in West Palm Beach, Florida, Guo said he wanted to become a pilot to challenge himself. He foresees a career in business and tech, not aviation.
Guo's parents were worried about his project and actively tried to stop him, forcing him to do it on his own with help from volunteers, sponsors and other supporters, he said.
He understands the risks.
“Through my experiences — like an engine failure on the very beginning of the trip ... I was forced to face the fact that I could die at any point of the trip,” he said.
He’s made preparations like stocking the plane with cold-weather gear for Antarctica, a survival kit if he gets stranded in the desert, and an inflatable raft if he lands in an ocean.
“I’ll be lying to tell you if I wasn’t scared,” Guo said. “But every day I reaffirm myself. I say ‘This is what I believe in.' (...) So I’m going to fight on until the very end.”



Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivor, Who Devoted His Life for Peace, Dies at 93

Shigemi Fukahori is interviewed at the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, southern Japan, on July 29, 2020. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
Shigemi Fukahori is interviewed at the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, southern Japan, on July 29, 2020. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
TT

Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivor, Who Devoted His Life for Peace, Dies at 93

Shigemi Fukahori is interviewed at the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, southern Japan, on July 29, 2020. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
Shigemi Fukahori is interviewed at the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, southern Japan, on July 29, 2020. (Kyodo News via AP, File)

Shigemi Fukahori, a survivor of the 1945 Nagasaki atomic bombing, who devoted his life to advocating for peace has died. He was 93.

Fukahori died at a hospital in Nagasaki, southwestern Japan, on Jan. 3, the Urakami Catholic Church, where he prayed almost daily until last year, said on Sunday. Local media reported he died of old age.

The church, located about 500 meters from ground zero and near the Nagasaki Peace Park, is widely seen as a symbol of hope and peace, as its bell tower and some statues and survived the nuclear bombing.

Fukahori was only 14 when the US dropped the bomb on Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, killing tens of thousands of people, including his family. That came three days after the nuclear attack on Hiroshima, which killed 140,000 people. Japan surrendered days later, ending World War II and the country's nearly half-century of aggression across Asia.

Fukahori, who worked at a shipyard about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from where the bomb dropped, couldn’t talk about what happened for years, not only because of the painful memories but also how powerless he felt then.

About 15 years ago, he became more outspoken after encountering, during a visit to Spain, a man who experienced the bombing of Guernica in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War when he was also 14 years old. The shared experience helped Fukahori open up.

“On the day the bomb dropped, I heard a voice asking for help. When I walked over and held out my hand, the person’s skin melted. I still remember how that felt,” Fukahori told Japan’s national broadcaster NHK in 2019.

He often addressed students, hoping they take on what he called “the baton of peace,” in reference to his advocacy.

When Pope Francis visited Nagasaki in 2019, Fukahori was the one who handed him a wreath of white flowers. The following year, Fukahori represented the bomb victims at a ceremony, making his “pledge for peace,” saying: “I am determined to send our message to make Nagasaki the final place where an atomic bomb is ever dropped.”

A wake is scheduled for Sunday, and funeral services on Monday at Urakami Church, where his daughter will represent the family.