'This was the one bucket list task I couldn't do for my dead brother'
Royd Tolkien opens up about the one bucket list challenge he couldn't complete for his brother who died of ALS disease
A daring North Wales man was sent around the world to take on a "terrifying" secret bucket list left to him by his late brother.
But there was one challenge he revealed he could not bring himself to do.
Royd Tolkien - from Mold, the great-grandson of Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien - lost his brother, Mike, 39, in 2015 from motor neurone disease - also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's gisease.
Before he died, the adrenaline-hungry thrill-seeker set his older brother 50 extreme challenges to complete on his behalf after he had gone.
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They included:
shaving off his long locks - something Royd said he could never bring himself to do;
pushing himself off a 200ft canyon by throwing himself backwards off a chair;
travelling to New Zealand dressed as Gandalf;
walking along Auckland tower and bridge;
Royd Tolkien was dared to walk along Auckland tower as part of a secret bucket list left to him by his late brother, Mike (Image: Royd Tolkien)
performing stand-up comedy in Wellington with 20 minutes notice;
having the same design on Mike's back tattooed on his wrist;
wearing a tutu while jumping off the Nevis Highwire in New Zealand;
kayaking along Cathedral Cove on the North Island
Royd Tolkien was dared to taking a yoga having only done yoga twice before as part of a secret bucket list left to him by his late brother, Mike (Image: Royd Tolkien)
taking a yoga class while convincing them he has been a teacher for years - having only done yoga twice before
holding a tarantula
and carving his own greenstone.
Royd Tolkien wore a tutu while jumping off the Nevis Highwire in New Zealand as part of a secret bucket list left to him by his late brother, Mike (Image: Royd Tolkien)
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He completed each and every one, expect for the last.
"The hardest part of the journey for me was when Mike sent me to Machu Picchu to spread his ashes," Royd, 47, said.
"He sent me to all the places he would have gone if he had had time - and this was somewhere he had always wanted to go.
"But when I got there, I just couldn't do it.
Royd Tolkien was sent to Machu Picchu, Peru, to spread his late brother's ashes (Image: Royd Tolkien)
"I selfishly didn't want this journey to end but also by competing the list I became one step closer away from Mike.
"I just wanted to hold on to it.
"I will go back to Peru one day to spread his ashes, but it would be with family and friends."
The first of Tolkien's challenges began on the day of his brother's funeral, a day before what would have been his 40th birthday.
Pictured is Mike and Royd - Royd Tolkien whose brother Mike, lost his life to ALS
"The first task absolutely broke me apart," Tolkien - who made a cameo appearance in the extended edition of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - added.
"I wanted to do my speech first at the funeral because I knew I would be unable to hold it together.
"So as I walked up, I completely tripped over and as I got up, everyone gasped and there was a silence.
"As I pulled out my speech, I also held up a sign from Mike that told me to trip over in front of everyone.
Royd Tolkien was dared to shave his long locks as part of a secret bucket list left to him by his late brother, Mike (Image: Royd Tolkien)
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"Not only had he done it to make me look an idiot, he did it to break the ice and because he didn't want people to be sad because of him.
"That gave me a flavour for what was to come."
Just weeks after the funeral, Mike had Royd go to New Zealand - where the film adaptations of their great-grandfather's books were made and a place they had always planned to return together.
Tolkien began filming, in the hope that one day it could be turned into a film to raise awareness of the incurable illness.
Royd Tolkein (left) and his younger brother Mike
He said: "This whole journey was filmed to raise awareness but also to inspire people to live their lives the best they can and just go out and grab life by the balls.
"One of the challenges he set me was to do a Canyon swing - it was terrifyingly scary.
"When I was up there, I asked them what the most terrifying way was to jump off the edge - they said it was to sit on a chair and push yourself back off the edge.
"It was a 200ft drop, and I was sat on the edge asking myself, 'what am I doing?' but I did it, and then I did it again because I knew that's what Mike would have done.
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Royd Tolkien set off to New Zealand dressed as Lord of the Rings character, Gandalf last week to begin the first of the bucket list challenges in memory of his late brother, Mike
"One thing can happen and it can ruin your life forever - caring for Mike broke me apart.
"But despite my younger brother having this awful disease that tore us all apart, he changed me by going through this immense suffering.
"It taught me to open up. If you're a man and you want to cry, then cry.
"When I returned home, I felt a huge weight lift from me."
Visit mndassociation.org for more information on motor neurone disease.
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