The Times and Sunday Times for less Alice Miles Where am I When he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia at the age of
22, Robert Day’s greatest concern was that he had yet to achieve anything in life. He vowed that if he recovered from the aggressive form of cancer, he would seek new challenges. Day, a keen cyclist, will embark on the greatest of these challenges when he takes part in an 81-mile race through the Highlands later this month. “The distance is not the challenge,” he says. “It is more that I want to show people that you can overcome obstacles.” Day was living in Eastbourne, working as an assistant chef, when he was diagnosed. He was a young, fit man and at first his doctor dismissed his symptoms as an infection. “I knew I was ill. I was losing weight like there was no tomorrow. I couldn’t eat or sleep. But the reaction I got was that I was a hypochondriac.”
When his GP did run tests, Day’s illness was picked up immediately. He was transferred to the Hammersmith hospital in London and underwent four cycles of chemotherapy. “I felt a sense of relief,” he says. “Finally, somebody knew what was wrong with me.”