Ryan Harrell helped a dying stranger get home. Saturday, the 42-year-old Mamaroneck resident swims 10 kilometers across Long Island Sound to honor her memory.

The story behind every stroke.

Harrell is one of 14 swimmers attempting the full crossing from Glen Cove, Long Island, to the Larchmont Shore Club as part of the 34th annual Swim Across America – Long Island Sound open water swim. He's dedicating the swim to Mariah Aldridge, a 32-year-old mother with colon cancer who wanted to spend her final days with family in Albertville, Alabama. Aldridge had been receiving hospice care in Santa Ana, California, but complications from her illness made commercial flying impossible. Harrell saw her story on social media and, through his employer, private jet charter company Soar Jets, arranged a flight home for her — with friends Joslyn Marie, Justin Nunley and Chris Young helping make it happen. Aldridge made it home.

"That experience changed me," Harrell said. "In my 25th year swimming with Swim Across America, I am dedicating every stroke I take in her honor."

A cause that's been personal for 25 years.

Harrell's connection to the organization goes back to 2001, when he swam as a student at Iona Prep with the Badger Swim Club in honor of Bill Weaver, a close family friend battling pancreatic cancer. His father, then principal of Davis Elementary School in New Rochelle, helped the teenager learn to fundraise by rallying teachers and staff to contribute. The stakes have only deepened since: Harrell's mother is a cancer survivor, and he's lost his best friend's father and sister to the disease. He now trains year-round with Team Masters under coach Dave Samuelsohn.

As of Thursday, Harrell had raised more than $15,000 individually, with Team Masters collectively raising close to $75,000 for the season.

A cause with deep local roots.

The event includes a direct Rye connection — a Coveleigh Club Pool Swim was one of eight community pool swims held across Westchester County earlier this month. Organizers project nearly 1,000 swimmers and hundreds of volunteers for Saturday's open water event, which also includes a half-mile pool swim at Larchmont Shore Club from 8 to 9:30 a.m. This year's fundraising goal is $2.5 million; since its first Westchester County swim in 1992, the event has raised more than $32 million for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, and Cancer Support Team.

Want to swim, donate, or volunteer?

Registration and donations are open at swimacrossamerica.org/longislandsound.