Scottish footballing legend Graeme Souness has raised nearly £350,000 in just two days after announcing he is to swim the English Channel in aid of a Scots schoolgirl.
The former Rangers and Liverpool star, 70, has become close to 14-year-old epidermolysis bullosa (EB) sufferer Isla Grist and her family, who live on the Black Isle near Inverness.
EB, also known as “butterfly skin”, is a painful, incurable skin condition that causes blisters and tears from any trauma or friction to the skin.
Souness became a campaigner for EB patients after learning about the illness at a charity dinner five years ago.
The 70-year-old pundit, now vice-president of the charity DEBRA, which supports people living with the condition, will attempt to raise £1.1million when he takes on the swimming challenge on June 18.
It is estimated the 21-mile swim between Dover and Calais could take up to 16 hours and the target is symbolic of his old number 11 jersey.
Donations have flooded in since he made a tearful appearance on BBC Breakfast on Monday to reveal his challenge. He has so far raised £346,600.
Money raised from his swim will go to DEBRA to clinically test drugs already available within the NHS that could radically improve quality of life for people living with EB.
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