Two men have taken part in a '24k challenge' to raise money on behalf of their friend who battled cancer - by eating a whopping 12,000 calories each in ONE DAY

Bradley Lander and Joel Kaas, both 25 and from Borehamwood, have been eating a whopping 12,000 calories a day - nearly five times the recommended daily calorie intake.

This is all part of their '24k challenge' - which they completed to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support after their friend Sam Gold, 24, survived cancer.

The pair have eaten American pancakes, three McDonald’s cheeseburgers each, grilled cheeses, large fries and a cheesecake earlier this month.

Their friend Sam also tackled a Domino's BBQ Base pizza standing at a whopping 2,360 calories.

Bradley said: “I was really excited before but when breakfast started quite quickly it became very overwhelming.

Bradley Lander, Sam Gold and Joel Kaas. Photo: SWNS

“We had gone through a whole jar of Nutella, a whole tub of peanut butter and Ben and Jerry’s Ice cream to make the chocolate milkshake and that was only by 9am.

“The hardest part was having to do all that and know you’ve got to do it all again in a few hours at lunch time."

Bradley, a dentist, and Joel, an advertising account manager, completed the feat to raise money for their friend, Sam who was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma at the age of 13.

Sam was diagnosed with the uncommon cancer that develops in the lymphatic system after finding a lump in his neck.

After having the lump removed the then-teenager went through chemotherapy and was fortunately given the all clear around seven months later.

The three were friends when Sam was diagnosed as a youngster and Bradley recalls the difficulty of the time.

Bradley and Joel enjoyed three double cheeseburgers and nine mozarella sticks each for lunch. Photo: SWNS

He said: "I won't forget the day Sam was diagnosed. I also won't forget how Macmillan Cancer Support helped him throughout his journey.

"It was important to us both to raise money for this amazing cause and raise awareness of its value to sufferers of this awful illness.”

Bradley and Joel enjoy eating and watching food challenge programmes together which escalated to their own homemade challenge.

Sam was on hand throughout the day to make sure they completed it properly.

The two had set breakfast, lunch and dinner meal times and watched football, slept and went for walks in between.

Bradley said: “I did contemplate quitting after lunch and I will admit that Joel and I were both sick after eating it.

“I couldn’t see, I couldn’t sit still and I couldn’t lie down because I was in so much

discomfort.

“I just didn’t feel well.”

Joel added: "Lunch was most challenging.

"I think we underestimated how filling breakfast was going to be because it didn’t seem as much as we would eat at a hotel breakfast buffet for example, but there were some pretty hefty ingredients in there.

"There was only a three hour gap between breakfast and lunch, and McDonald’s double cheeseburgers look a lot smaller than they are.”

The friends chose a 12,000 limit as that equates to six times the recommended daily calorie count for men.

Bradley and Joel finished eating at around 7pm that evening and ran home to bed as soon as they were finished.

Bradley said: “Finishing was actually an anti-climax as I didn’t feel well enough to have

enough emotions.

“I was fine the next day, though, and actually felt a bit hungry.

“I do think I’ll have to stay away from pancakes and mozzarella dippers for a while though.

“If I had one piece of advice to anyone it would definitely be ‘don’t try this at home!’” he added.

Despite the friends' discomfort, Sam remained their biggest supporter.

He said: "I am so grateful they did this though as I think raising money for cancer charities is massively important especially while Covid is going on.

"It's essential to remember there are other massive health issues going on.”

So far the two have raised over £1,700 and donations can be made to their justgiving page here:

https://justgiving.com/fundraising/24kcalories.