Graeme Souness has endured many a challenge during his playing days and has always fought valiantly for his side. The former Liverpool, Rangers and Scotland player is now looking to do the same for his beliefs.
The 70-year-old has recently stepped down from his 15-year role as TV pundit for Sky Sports and is now swimming the English Channel. But why? GOAL has the answer.
The Scotsman was inspired by 14-year-old Isla Grist, who Souness met during a show aired by BBC in 2019, and suffers from a skin condition called Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB).
Souness aims to raise £1.1 million ($1.4m) for the DEBRA charity, where the money would be used in order to clinically test drugs already available within the National Health Service (NHS) in England that could radically improve quality of life for people living with EB.
“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,” Souness expressed.
“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 the number 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.”
The event will take place on June 18, 2023. Souness will not be swimming the English Channel by himself, as he will be part of a six-member team and the challenge could take up to 16 hours to complete.