BUFFALO, NY (TIP): Ravinder K. Bansal, a retired entrepreneur of Indian origin, who embarked on a solo flight around the world to raise money for a hospital in Haryana, has completed a six-week  tour after raising $160,000. He will donate the money to the Rotary Ambala Cancer Hospital in Haryana, India, to purchase an urgently needed MRI machine.

On July 4, Bansal, a resident of Buffalo, New York, embarked on a solo flight around the world in a single-engine Cessna 400 and returned on August 21. During the 19,878-mile trip he flew across England, France, Italy, Greece, Jordan, the UAE, and Oman and ended in India. He also had stopovers in Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Japan, Russia, and Canada during his return trip to the United States. He planned the mission after his daughter-in-law was diagnosed with life-threatening cancer. “This mission for me is very personal as it not only is an adventure that I have been dreaming about for a while, but will also help bring awareness about cancer in the rural community around Ambala and get the hospital a needed MRI machine now. Above all, it will generate publicity for the hospital that will hopefully continue to bring donations/support from the local and international community and Rotarians to keep the hospital operating and growing in future”, he wrote.

“It has been a dream of mine for years to do this Round the World trip. I am finding it hard to believe that I have done it and come back home safely. I have lots of people to thank for helping me fulfill my dream. First and foremost is the unflinching support of my family, my wife Pratibha, my sons Rohan and Nitin, my brothers, sister and their families. My logistics team Eddie Gold and Ahmed Hassan of GASE, my friends in Buffalo, the new ones I made along the way and most of all God Almighty who watched over me through this entire journey. Thank you, Thank you, and Thank you all for helping make my dream come true”, he wrote in his blog.

Bansal is a Ph.D. holder in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Engineering, is a retired entrepreneur with a passion for flying and a wannabe Drummer.