Graeme Souness targets new challenge after raising $5.8m to fight 'horrendous disease'

Liverpool icon Graeme Souness is gearing up for an 85-mile cycle from Dover to London , joining a relay challenge aimed at raising funds for DEBRA UK, the charity aiding individuals with Epidermolysis bullosa (EB), known as butterfly skin.

The Anfield hero, 71, is not one to shy away from a challenge. Last year, he braved the waters to swim the English/French channel for DEBRA UK, raising £4.5 million ($5.8 million). And now, despite a shoulder injury sustained during that swim, he's set to join the team once more.

They plan to conquer the swim in both directions and cycle from London to Dover before diving in. Former Liverpool player and manager Souness, now vice president of DEBRA UK, was inspired to get involved after meeting Isla Grist, a 16-year-old from Inverness battling EB. He's since become a supportive figure in her life.

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Souness has been vocal about the impact of EB, calling it "the most horrendous disease" last year. He said: "If you're inflated by it, you must wake up every morning and say 'Why me?' It is a desperate situation, and then the parents have to deal with that - and that's what we're doing."

"I knew nothing about this, I'd never heard of this disease and the vast majority of people out there will know nothing about this disease. Please do a little bit of research and see how nasty and awful this is to sufferers and the impact it has on families.

"It properly punched me on the nose when I first witnessed a sufferer. You'd' have to be some special human being, if you're to meet Isla or any poor children who are sufferers, not to be moved by it. I plead with anyone who can do a bit for us, because we must bring relief to them."

In an emotional segment on BBC Breakfast on Tuesday, he said: "We do it for this young lady, and as I've said already, you know, if you witness what she goes through on a daily, hourly basis, us enduring a wee bit of cold water, or this time a few hours on a bike, it's nothing to what she goes through every day."

He added: "She's one determined cookie."

A degenerative condition that attacks children's organs and development, EB causes one's skin to become fragile and often results in painful blisters. There is currently no cure for the condition.