He planned to die on the road.
Doctors gave Randolph Westphal between six and 12 months to live after diagnosing him with malignant melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, in 1987.
He was born in a small town near Frankfurt, Germany, in 1958 and wanted to make the most of the time he had left.
“The idea was, OK, you’d like to see – before you die, you’d like to see North America,” Westphal said in his thick German accent during an interview at The Durango Herald last week.
Twenty-six years, 28 cancer operations and more than 135,000 miles later, he’s still pedaling.
Westphal has pedaled his bike the equivalent distance of five times around the world, spreading the message to “never give up.”
His epiphany came in Canada. During a cancer check-up in Quebec, doctors asked if he wanted to speak with other cancer patients.
“I say, ‘What can I do?’ They tell me, ‘Just what you do,’” he said. “I like to live. Doctors say, ‘Right, you need to tell them that.’”
The next day, Westphal spoke to 25 cancer patients, with Canadian newspapers, radio and television present.
“Starting, I was close to a heart attack because I’ve never talked to people, not even to a running camera. I’m starting to talk, people starting to cry. I did what I could with my bad English,” said Westphal, who remembers his introduction to the English language coming from his flight from Germany to North America. “The first English I got was, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, fasten seat belts and stop smoking.’ I learn my English on the road.”
That road first wound to Durango in 1987. He made a return stop last week, but he couldn’t remember anything about his original visit.
Westphal lost his memory after a truck rolled over him in Argentina in 1996.
The accident nearly cost him his left leg, but doctors were able to reattach it.
“I was five years in the hospital. I didn’t know who I am, what I am or what I do. I was a couple of weeks in a coma,” Westphal said. “I have to learn everything new. I kept diaries, and I followed the diaries. So when I was in like Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, when I was there, it was like a switch, and it comes back,” he said with a snap of his fingers.
Westphal doesn’t have a set plan or route when he travels.
Currently, he’s headed generally toward New York, but he goes where he’s needed.
“I’m talking to universities, cancer support groups, everything. Wherever I have the chance to talk to people,” Westphal said. “People find hope in my story and live longer than statistics. I show people nobody is statistics, and this is good.”
Westphal doesn’t travel with any other people, but he isn’t alone.
Chinook and Nanook, his two dogs, accompany him, and the man’s best friends rested on his trailer as he talked to the Herald. They are the grandsons of Shir Khan, his dog that was killed in the Argentina accident.
All told, Westphal has traveled with four dogs during his journey.
“Because they are old, I’m looking for a female, so I can get a new generation,” he said.
Westphal supports himself primarily through donations and sponsorships. He lives on 10 Euros ($13.75) per day while obtaining food primarily through supermarket donations.
Jack Wolfskin, a German outfitter, sponsors his equipment, such as his bike and clothes, while Best Western offers him complimentary rooms when he is in an area with one of its hotels.
When he’s away from civilization?
“Tent,” Westphal said.
Knowing his positive impact on other cancer patients has kept Westphal going for nearly three decades, and it keeps him going still.
“When I talk to other cancer patients, and I see hope in their eyes,” he said, “it just gives me so much power back, so I continue.”
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
