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An emotional Graeme Souness has revealed he is swimming the English Channel to help people living with the rare skin disorder Epidermolysis bullosa.
The former Liverpool and Scotland captain, who has just stepped away from his punditry role on Sky Sports after 15 years, fought back tears as he described the pain and misery the illness brings to children.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Mail Sport columnist Souness, 70, said: ‘It’s the most horrendous disease. If you’re inflicted by it you must wake up every morning and say “why me?”
‘It’s a desperate situation. And then the parents have to deal with that. And that’s why we’re doing this.
‘I am involved in this because of how evil this disease is.
‘If people haven’t experienced it, or seen it, you have no idea how desperate this thing is.’
Former Liverpool and Scotland footballer Graeme Souness will swim the English Channel to raise money for charities supporting those suffering from Epidermolysis bullosa
Souness will be taking on the 21-mile Channel challenge next month alongside Andy Grist, the father of a 14-year-old girl, Isla, who suffers from the condition
Souness will swim 21 miles across the Channel on June 18 to raise funds for the charity DEBRA, which supports people living with the illness.
He wants to raise at least £1.1million, because he wore the No 11 on the football field.
Souness was filmed chatting to Isla Grist, a 14-year-old girl who required plastic surgery on her hands because of the degenerative disease.
Isla described the agony of even having her bandages changed on her hands, with Souness almost lost for words at her bravery.
Souness plus Isla’s dad, Andy, and four others will be taking on the waters between Dover and Calais next month and a fundraising page has been set up on the DEBRA website.
‘Isla is just the most courageous human being I’ve ever come across,’ Souness added. ‘When I’m in her company, I’m very tearful.
‘She just inspires me, she is just unbelievably courageous and brave.’
The crossing could take up to 16 hours to swim but Souness said: ‘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.
Souness announced last month he is stepping down from his Sky Sports punditry role
The legend has been a familiar sight on their Premier League coverage for over a decade
‘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.’
Last month, Souness announced he was leaving his role as a pundit on Sky Sports after 15 years.
‘I’m going to miss you guys, the guys behind the scenes, our make-up girl, I’ll miss you all,’ Souness said on air.
‘You know, for me, I decided that football management wasn’t for me any more. I had the wrong temperament for it, the wrong personality.
‘And then I was given the opportunity to do this and it’s been magnificent. It’s just been the most fantastic time for me, because I love football, I care about football and I worry about it going forward.
‘But in Sky’s hands it’s in good hands, safe hands, and I think over the years we’ve created a Premier League with great detail and I think we look after football very well,’ he continued.
‘But for me personally, I’ve got the buzz of live football coming to some fantastic games and some fantastic stadiums and some great events. I think I owe 100 apologies to people, but we haven’t got time for that.
‘I think people at home obviously don’t always agree with us, but it’s been great guys it really has.
‘And it’s great right now to be amongst friends and nothing goes on forever, but I’ve got a lot of things coming up, I’m involved in my DEBRA charity and later this month I’ll announce the challenge I’m getting involved in.
‘But it’s been great so thank you to everyone.’
Souness departed Sky by mutual consent as his contract with the broadcasters was due to expire at the end of the season.
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