‘From Bristol to Beijing’ - The Award Winning Short Film
Have your say on our storytelling! ‘From Bristol to Beijing’ is nominated for a Lovie Award, and you can vote for it here: https://vote.lovieawards.com/PublicVoting#/2024/film-video/general-video/lifestyle
The short film tells the story of Luke Grenfell-Shaw, who was not expected to survive a rare cancer he developed in his early twenties. After fighting the condition he set off on a tandem for an epic journey - only to cycle into the midst of a pandemic.
The short film tells the story of Luke Grenfell-Shaw, who was not expected to survive a rare cancer he developed in his early twenties. After fighting the condition he set off on a tandem for an epic journey - only to cycle into the midst of a pandemic.
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NewsTranscript
00:00On the day that I was diagnosed with cancer, I realised if I've only got the chance to do one more thing, it's going to be cycle around the world.
00:10None of us actually know how long we have to live. We think that there's this certainty, but actually I think it applies to everyone.
00:19Just because I have cancer, I realised is that if I chose to be angry and sad and resentful, then I'd probably spend my last months alive just unhappy.
00:31If I only have a few months left to live, I want those to be good months.
00:34My name is Luke Grenfell-Shaw. In 2018, I was 24 years old and I had this ache in my left shoulder that just wouldn't go away.
00:50And for months, it ached and ached and ached.
00:56And eventually I went to see the doctor and I said, I don't think there's much of a problem, but can you check this out?
01:05The doctors told me that I had cancer. It was very rare, very aggressive and it had already spread to my lungs and I didn't think I would live to the end of the year.
01:17It was totally devastating. I'd basically been told, you're going to die at 24 years old.
01:23All those dreams just gone.
01:26After I got diagnosed, I had chemotherapy, I had radiotherapy and I had surgery.
01:32But my dad gave me some amazing advice, which was you can't control whether you have cancer, but you can control your response to it.
01:41I went for a walk every single day I was in hospital around Bristol.
01:47And sometimes I would cycle my bike on a stationary turbo trainer in my hospital room.
01:53I had always dreamed about cycling around the world, but I always thought the time would be later.
02:01Like after university, after I'd bought a house, after I'd got a great job, after I'd retired.
02:11When I got cancer, I realised that there was going to be no other opportunity for me to live this dream.
02:18And so as soon as I had the opportunity after finishing treatment, I set off from Bristol for Beijing.
02:29My Bristol to Beijing expedition was inspired by the ancient Silk Roads.
02:35I am really interested in the Belt and Road Initiative and the idea of the new Silk Roads and then the old Silk Roads.
02:43My studies have taken me from the Middle East through to Central Asia.
02:49And so for me, Beijing was like the natural destination because in many ways I think China is going to be leading and hugely influential for the 21st century.
03:01And I wanted to not only understand China, but understand China in the context of the rest of Eurasia.
03:09And the best way of doing that, in my opinion, is to cycle the whole way.
03:14I had an older brother, John, who was a brilliant mathematician and cyclist.
03:21And whilst I was in hospital for the first time, he was running in the mountains in the UK and he slipped and he fell and he died.
03:36John and I did a load of cycling together and it was always part of the plan that John would cycle with me on this round-the-world trip.
03:45And so part of the reason for the tandem is because I wasn't able to share it with John.
03:50But I then decided I'd just share it with anyone else who joined me along the way.
03:55So I started the ride on the 1st of January 2020 and over 800 people in total joined me on this trip.
04:02So I started in Bristol, I then went to London, then I crossed the Channel into France.
04:08I went through Western Europe, through Ukraine, then Turkey, Pakistan, India and all the way across Eurasia.
04:18I cooked my own food, so I had a tent, I had a cooker.
04:22I would buy food to cook from shops and I would wash in streams or rivers.
04:28I'd be camping under the stars.
04:31I mean, people joined me from everything for a kilometre to 2,000 kilometres, like a complete range.
04:40And I think what was special is everyone brought their own little story to the adventure, to the trip.
04:48There was coronavirus, the Chinese border was closed.
04:52I raised £130,000 for cancer charities.
04:57And this trip was 30,000 kilometres through 30 different countries.
05:10I really enjoyed it.
05:12I'm super excited to be going to China to do a trek in Sichuan with another young person with cancer, a person from China.
05:33We're going to be doing a trek through the Four Sisters, so near Chengdu.
05:38It's going to be several days.
05:40It's this country that to me is so different and so enchanting at the same time.
05:49And also hopefully a really amazing opportunity to not just be a tourist there, but make a really deep connection with people in China as well.
05:59We've got a Weibo account, which is Bristol to Beijing.
06:03So anyone can find me there and follow me there.
06:07For me, it's really special to see messages come in saying that, you know, like, I've heard your story.
06:14It's given me a lot of confidence or it's given me a lot of courage.
06:18And for me, that is a big sign that I'm doing my job well, because I'm trying to reach people and I'm trying to give people a little bit of confidence or hope at a time when you feel like there often isn't any.
06:31So I think it's really important for everyone to be thinking about what do I want to do with my life?
06:37What is my dream? Not the dream of society or parents or school, but what is the thing that makes my heart sing?
06:45And not hesitate. Go out and do it.