Liverpool FC legend Graeme Souness is to swim the English Channel to raise money for a rare skin condition charity, he has told BBC Breakfast.
The 70-year-old Liverpool icon featured on Sky for the final time earlier this month following a 15-year stint as a regular on the network as a pundit. At the time, he gave no hint of what his next plans involved.
Now, however, we know the former Liverpool, Rangers and Scotland player is swapping the sports channel for the English one. He committed to the 16-hour swim after meeting Isla Grist from the Black Isle, near Inverness. The 14-year-old has dystrophic recessive epidermolysis Bullosa, a genetic condition causing the skin to tear or blister at the slightest touch. Souness described Grist as “unbelievably courageous.”
The TV pundit is aiming to raise £1.1m for the Debra charity, which supports Isla and about 5,000 people in the UK who currently live with the incurable condition otherwise known “butterfly skin.”
Souness told BBC Breakfast: “She’s just unbelievably courageous, brave and strong. It is just the most horrendous disease and if you are affected by it you must wake up every morning and think, why me?”
Grist’s father Andy, who is also taking party in the charity swim across the English Channel, has seen his daughter wrapped head to toe in bandages, which are changed three times a week, since birth. Andy will swim alongside Souness on the 21-mile journey from England to France.
The pair are raising money for Debra’s “A Life Free of Pain” appeal, which it is hoped will help pay to clinically test drug treatments that could improve the quality of life for people with butterfly skin.
Souness announced his Sky departure in April saying: “I was given an opportunity to do this and it has been magnificent. It has just been the most fantastic time for me. I love football and I care for it and I worry about it going forward. But in Sky’s hands it’s in safe hands and I think over the years we have treated the Premier League with great detail and I think we look after football very well.”
He was one of two high profile departures from Sky Sports last month. Longstanding host Jeff Stelling announced his departure shortly before Souness after more than 25 years presenting Soccer Saturday.
You can watch the whole interview and Souness’ moving tribute to Grist on Debra’s YouTube channel below, though it is a 17-minute segment, so be prepared and bring a cup of tea:
