Staff from a hospital trust will be taking part in the London Triathlon in memory of a 22-year-old woman who died earlier this year.

The team of 12 consultants and registrars from Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust are raising money for Mind.

The gesture is in honour of Molly Sayer, the daughter of the trust's associate medical director Gabriel Sayer, who died unexpectedly in April.

The idea to take part in the triathlon sprang from members of the surgery team who wanted to support the family, and they decided on a triathlon due to the Sayer's own passion for these events.

Mr Sayer said: “I am so very grateful for the kindness and support that has been shown to me and my family by my colleagues in the department of surgery and the hospital as a whole.

"The warmth and compassion from so many has helped us through a very difficult time. Molly was a passionate open water swimmer, cyclist and runner and this will be a great way of remembering her.”

Those taking part in the triathlon this Saturday include organiser Joe Huang, divisional director for cancer and clinical support, fellow consultants Sas Banerjee, Aman Bhargava, Robert Buhain, Maher Jumah, Samrat Mukherjee, Niroo Rajendran and Haschmat Sarwary; alongside registrars Omer Abdelsadiq, Charlie Craddock, Sandeep Kaul and Apostolos Prionas.

Joe said: "Gabriel Sayer, our friend and colleague, lost his daughter Molly unexpectedly. This tragedy has affected us deeply.

"We all know of Gabriel’s passion for Ironman and triathlon events which was why we decided to sign up for the triathlon. We’ll be taking part in the sprint team relay, which consists of a 750m open water swim, 20km bike ride and 5km run."

Sas Banerjee, who will be competing in the cycling leg of the challenge, added: "It’s not something we’d be able to do individually but we’re taking a team approach and all doing our individual parts.

"Samrat and Niroo and I are all cycling in our teams and we live close to each other so we’ve been able to do some of our training together, which has been really good for team bonding."

The trust team have already raised over £6,000 for Mind, a cause chosen by the Sayer family.

Their fundraising total will also be boosted thanks to the donation of a signed print from British artist and author Charlie Mackesey to auction off.

A Just Giving page can be found here.