A FORMER Saints striker is to run 10k with a team of nurses to help raise money for lifesaving equipment.
Karleen Gammie, a nurse at University Hospital Southampton, has organised at 10k run to raise £10,000 for desperately needed equipment.
The acute stroke unit (ASU) nurse will be joined by former Southampton FC star James Beattie and will run from AFC Totton Football Club in Calmore to Southampton General Hospital on August 1.
The run is to raise money for new Dash monitors - machine that monitors vital signs including your pulse rate and rhythm, blood pressure, O2 saturations, respiration alerting if there is any change to the normal parameters.
Karleen said: "During this Covid-19 pandemic, a lot of patients that would normally come into hospital are reluctant to attend A&E and ASU when they are genuinely ill.
"The response I have had from patient delaying coming into hospital or seeking help range from: 'I don’t want to be a bother' or 'there are sicker people than me', 'I thought I would get better soon' and 'I am scared of getting corona'.
"The delay in getting early treatment mean that our patient are coming in critically unwell and we don’t have dash monitor on the department to monitor them closely.
"Close monitoring can help improve patients care and outcomes."
She added: "I will be running with ex-Saints football player James Beattie, Brett Williams - my friend who’s been doing the food bank with me - and another nurse that works on my ward.
"We will be running from AFC totton football club Calmore to Southampton General Hospital."
The ASU team have been raising money for a few years through bake sales, charity runs, plane jumps, and a number of raffles.
So far, they have raised £4,000 but it is not enough to cover the cost of a monitor, which cost £5,000 each.
The team care for all acutely unwell surgical patients that attend A&E or GP referrals.
Karleen explained that the team covers all internal organs including appendix, liver, pancreases, gall bladder, kidneys and skin.
They also look after patients that need specialist cancer treatments as well.
To donate, visit: www.gofundme.com/f/nhs-10k-run.
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