Graeme Souness swimming the English Channel for DEBRA

Football legend, and TV pundit, Graeme Souness, is playing his part to stop the pain of EB this summer by swimming the English Channel!

Graeme, who has faced many a foe during his sporting career, will be taking on the formidable 21-mile stretch of water that lies between Dover and Calais. Although Graeme won’t be on his own (he’ll be part of a 6-person team), he’ll still need all his physical and mental strength and the support of as many people back home as possible to get him to the shores of France, in a swim that could take up to 16 hours!

The motivation for Graeme to do the swim and play his part is personal. Graeme’s good friend is Isla Grist, 14, who is living with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, Graeme explains more:

“From the time I have spent with Isla and her family, I have seen first-hand the extreme pain this devastating condition causes and the daily challenges it creates.

I wanted to do something that could make a difference to Isla’s life and to the lives of so many others living with EB, and the slightly crazy idea of swimming the English Channel was suggested. Now I’m not one to walk away from a challenge, but this is all new to me; despite living by the sea for the past 16 years, I’ve never been in it, and so this will certainly be the most difficult challenge I’ve ever taken on. I am determined to complete the swim, though. Alongside Isla’s dad, Andy, and the rest of the team, we will complete the challenge and in doing so raise awareness of EB and support to find the treatments that are so desperately needed.

Please join me in supporting DEBRA’s A Life Free of Pain appeal. You don’t have to join me in swimming the channel, but just one small action from you could be a game-changer for people like Isla, living with EB.

For most of my playing career I wore no.11, and I now want to raise £1.1m for DEBRA, every pound raised will get us one step closer to stopping the pain of EB.

You can sponsor me or create your own fundraising challenge through Give as you Live, whether that’s a sporting challenge, a bake-off, or a sponsored knit, every donation received helps DEBRA research future treatments that could transform the lives of thousands of people who currently have to live with this awful condition.

Please play your part. Thank you”.