Two grandparents from Edgware left the comfort of their home this morning to drive from London to Mumbai to raise money for charity in honour of their daughter.

Jayesh Desai, 60, his wife, Lata, 59, and their friend Jay Patel, 51, left Edgwarebury Lane at 8.30am to embark on the epic 8,000 mile, five week journey.

They are hoping to raise more than £8,000 for blood cancer charity, Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research.

The charity was chosen as Mr and Mrs Desai’s daughter, Rinal Patel, 31, suffers from follicular lymphoma, a form of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Mrs Patel recently entered remission following a two year battle with the disease.

She was 12 weeks pregnant with her second child when she was diagnosed and, due to the aggressive nature of the cancer, and the treatment required, she and her husband, Ket, took the heartbreaking decision to terminate the pregnancy.

It was the knowledge that his daughter’s cancer was in remission that spurred Mr Desai, a self-employed Post Office manager, into organising the charity Drivathon.

He said: “I have wanted to go by road from here to India for a long, long time and we are looking forward to it.

We will take it day by day.”

The challenge will see the trio travelling across 13 countries, visiting some of the hottest places in the world at the hottest part of the year as well as traversing the Karakorum Highway, the highest road in the world.

They will drive a specially equipped Mitsubishi Shogun travelling up to 400 miles a day and staying in hotels at night.

Mr and Mrs Desai, who have two children and three grandchildren, have been planning the trip for nearly a year.

Mr Desai said: “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.


“I decided to raise money for Leukemia and Lymphoma Research as it really was the only charity looking to find a cure for lymphoma and dedicated to improving lives for people going through these terrible illnesses.

“We need to continue improving lives of individuals and finding new drugs and medicines to help people that are suffering.

“My daughter now does a lot of voluntary work for various cancer support groups in the South Asian community.

“After going through this journey, our family is very keen to help and support others by building awareness.”

Jonathan Andrews, fundraising director at the charity, said: “It is great that Jayesh, Lata and Jay are taking on this challenge and raising money for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research.

“The money raised from their Drivathon will be invested in our leading research into better treatments and cures for blood cancers including leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma.”

You can support the group as they drive to beat blood cancer by visiting their fundraising page http://www.justgiving.com/drivathon


The Time Series will keep you updated on their progress throughout the journey.