His epic voyage is coming to an end as he prepares to head back to his home city
“The lure of the horizon is what I have been chasing for 28 years,” said inspirational adventurer and Hull hero Karl Bushby as he looked over the Humber from Barton on the last leg of his epic voyage. Karl was just short of 30 years old when he set off from the southernmost tip of South America determined to make his way home without the assistance of transport.
He is due in his city tomorrow and is crossing the Humber Bridge today. From the George Inn, Barton, he told the Hull Daily Mail: “I have the win. It means I have done it all. Arriving in Hull, my home and the place I was born and had my childhood, is the victory.”
The only item that Karl left Hull with 28 years ago and has survived the minus temperatures in the Arctic and the contrasting heat in the Arizona desert is his Paratrooper badge. The 3 Battalion para proudly wore the Flying Pegasus throughout his journey. He served for 12 years, including several tours in Northern Ireland. He will be at Hull Cenotaph to remember comrades including five who he lost while serving.
Looking ahead to his arrival back in Hull, Karl continued: “Hull is where I have all my childhood memories. I have been looking on Google Earth and seeing the street where I grew up. The homes and garden walks look the same but some of the bushes look a lot taller.” Karl said he is looking forward very much to being reunited with his parents, brothers, son and his partner and his granddaughter Harley whom he has never met.
The only person Karl met who knew of Hull while away was a man he met in the Atacama Desert in Chile. “Most people have never heard of Hull. The only one I met was in the desert in Chile. He had been to university in Hull.”
Karl confessed that the kindness of strangers has powered him around the globe. “I would not be here without that. That has been a big part of the story. It has been an amazing demonstration of how worthy humanity is. People need to be reminded of this. I have met people from every culture and met the best of the very best. It took them to get me here today. Empathy defines who we are going forward.”
Photos below taken by Donna Clifford for Hull Live.