Polar Circle Marathon: Man to run for friend who died from leukaemia

Dan Day and Alex Bryant grew up together as childhood friends

A Sussex man is running across the Arctic in memory of a childhood friend who died earlier this year.

Alex Bryant, a Littlehampton lifeguard, died from acute myeloid leukaemia in March aged 25.

Dan Day will take part in the Polar Circle Marathon in Greenland, on Saturday, to raise funds for stem cell transplant charity Anthony Nolan.

Mr Day, who grew up with Mr Bryant, said his friend had helped him realise "life is about helping other people".

Mr Bryant went through three stem cell transplants, including two from unrelated donors, after his diagnosis in 2017. The transplants prolonged his life, but he died this year.

"There is nothing I can put my body through that can come close to that - and he did it all without complaining," Mr Day, a 27-year-old gardener from Rustington, said.

"If I can do something that can make even the smallest change to someone's life, then it's worth it."

Littlehampton lifeguard Alex Bryant died from leukaemia this year

Mr Day, who also completed a 21km obstacle race, the Spartan Beast, in memory of his friend earlier in October, said: "He always held me accountable, always questioned why I didn't take care of myself, always pushed me to strive for more.

"With everything that happened to Alex, it has helped me realise that I should, and absolutely can, help impact other people's lives in a really positive way."

Dan Day will be running across the Arctic in memory of his friend

Acute myeloid leukaemia is a blood cancer which causes the bone marrow to make too many abnormal white blood cells and prevents it from making healthy blood cells.

Kirsty Mooney, head of supporter-led fundraising at Anthony Nolan, said fundraisers helped to raise cash that helped to recruit potential donors and allowed critical research to be conducted.

She said: "By undertaking a challenge like this, Dan is helping many other patients potentially have a second chance at life."

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].