‘I can’t believe a God would allow this to happen to anyone’: Graeme Souness reveals how learning about the consequences of life-limiting skin disease Epidermolysis Bullosa led him to become an ATHEIST
- Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) is a painful and incurable life-limiting skin condition
- Graeme Souness couldn’t believe the horrific effects of the disease
- He explained how learning about it made him stop believing there was a God
Graeme Souness has exposed the “worst and cruelest of all diseases” that have turned him into an atheist.
The Liverpool and Scottish legend revealed earlier this year how he couldn’t believe what those suffering from Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) must go through after being told this at a dinner party five years ago.
EB – also known as “butterfly skin” – is a painful, life-limiting skin condition that is incurable and causes painful blisters and tears from trauma or friction to the skin.
Souness, who is now vice-president of the charity DEBRA – which supports people living with the condition – has raised more than £500,000 since he first learned about it and has insisted he gets emotional when he talks about the disease.
The 69-year-old also explained how discovering the horrors of the disease – patients are born with – stopped him from believing in God.
Graeme Souness has told how the ‘most evil and vicious of all diseases’ – Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) – turned him into an atheist
The 69-year-old explained to host Simon Jordan about the horrific consequences of the disease
“It’s the most evil and vicious of all diseases,” he told the podcast Up front with Simon Jordan.
“And it just robs these young people of any quality of life. It is life-limiting for these poor children and it is not only the patients but also the families who are affected, which is traumatic to say the least.
And it changed me as a person. I am now an atheist because I cannot believe there is an almighty who would allow this to happen to one person.”
Souness also revealed how he had become particularly close with a patient, Isla Grist.
He said earlier this year the diary: ‘Isla is now 14 and she inspires me every time I’m in her company.
“She has courage and bravery on a whole other level than anything I’ve ever seen. She is in constant pain, but always smiling.
“Isla is such an impressive young woman. She is smart, funny and so brave and strong that she makes you feel average about yourself.
“You look at her and think: ‘I’m not such a strong character after all.’
And when he spoke with Jordan, he went on to explain the pain patients like Isla face.
He added: “Worst case. My little girl, she’s not my little girl, but I’ve grown close to her, Isla, and it’s like someone put a torch to their skin.
“It is perpetually raw in their mouths and also in her tracks and there is not a moment of the day when she is not in pain.
“Imagine that your whole body is covered with a burning sensation. She is red raw and they (patients) lose their skin.
“These kids have to take the strongest drugs to get through their lives, like ketamine, diamorphine, and it’s the most painful, cruel, and worst thing you can experience.”
Souness – who has raised more than £500,000 for the charity DEBRA which supports EB patients – explained his heartbreak at seeing the pain experienced by many victims of the disease