Supporters of Chen Guanming, who was killed in a roadside accident last week while attempting to cycle around the world, are raising money to help his family recover his body from Argentina.

The 61-year-old died instantly when a truck rammed into his rickshaw near Puerto San Julián in frigid Patagonia on Oct. 18. Chen had been on a quest for a Guinness World Record, local media reported Thursday. Also known as the “Olympic Madman,” he rose to international fame for attending every Summer Games since 2008 on his three-wheeler, which he used to cover 170,000 kilometers around the globe.

“I didn’t believe it initially — I thought it was impossible,” Chen’s younger brother, Chen Guanliang, told Sixth Tone on Tuesday. “I have to bring my brother and his rickshaw back.”

Almost a week after his brother’s death, Guanliang still has not had the heart to inform their 84-year-old mother in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, some 18,000 kilometers from the site of the accident. He’s simply said his brother is injured. In the meantime, Guanliang is struggling to pay to bring the body home for a funeral. According to Chinese law, when a Chinese national dies overseas, the country’s embassy or consulate will only provide a list of companies that can help repatriate the body, and will not bear any monetary costs.

Guanliang said he needed money to fly to Argentina and travel to where the accident occurred. He is unsure of the costs for repatriating his brother’s body, but said that the Chinese embassy in Argentina told him that if he were to sue the truck driver, who has been detained by local authorities, the legal fees could be as high as 200,000 yuan ($30,000).

But the Olympic Madman’s supporters are stepping in to help, donating money for their hero’s last homecoming. A company in Jiangsu has chipped in 50,000 yuan, and Guanming’s family and friends have contributed some 70,000 yuan. Online, a crowdfunding platform is also raising money for Guanming’s journey home. By Tuesday afternoon, the GoFundMe campaign had collected $740 toward its $4,000 goal.

“He taught us that there is no hardship that cannot be survived with a dream in your heart,” reads the description on the GoFundMe page.

And on a Facebook page dedicated to chronicling Guanming’s travels, people are sharing their photos with the cycling legend, along with their own personal anecdotes. “One of his last photos, along with my brother, in Puerto San Julián,” wrote Marcela Garcia Mandic, along with a photo of the trio. “[He] was an adventurer, a genius.”

Guanliang remembers his brother, who had an infectious smile and a long, snow-white beard, as “a determined and a resolute person,” who was planning for a triple world record: the first person to bike at an elevation of 7,600 meters, the longest total distance traveled on a tricycle, and the smallest recreational vehicle to travel the world.

Guanliang plans to fly to Argentina by Wednesday, provided he is able to secure all his travel documents.

Once a farmer, Guanming first traveled on his tricycle to the iconic Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. Since then, it became his mission to pedal to every Summer Games, flying on donated tickets when it was not possible to cycle. In doing so, Guanming became a whimsical celebrity in London and Rio de Janeiro. His next stop would have been Tokyo in 2020, after which he was hoping to retire — a message he conveyed to Guanliang three days before his death.

“He had inquired about our mother and then talked about his future plans,” Guanliang recalled. “He was going to the South Pole before starting his tour to the Tokyo Olympics. Then he was returning home for good.”

Additional reporting: Fan Liya; contributions: Lin Qiqing; editor: Kevin Schoenmakers.

(Header image: Chen Guanming rides his tricycle in London, July 23, 2012. Shi Jiamin/VCG)