The Chief Executive of Shropshire’s two acute hospitals is planning to climb four volcanoes in six days to raise money for a new state-of-the-art MRI scanner.

Simon Wright will tackle Sicily’s “Mighty Four” volcanoes - Stromboli,
Vulcano, Salina and culminating at the world famous Mount Etna.

Simon, Chief Executive of The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust(SaTH), will undertake the epic trek in support of the MRI Appeal set up by the League of Friends of the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital to mark their 50^th
Anniversary.

During his adventure, Simon will trek around 16,000ft, the equivalent
of climbing Mount Snowdon more than four times or 12 trips up the Wrekin!

Simon, who is a keen walker and runner, is hoping to raise around
£5,500 for the MRI Appeal. He said: 

“Fundraising groups like the League of Friends are incredibly important to us, and raise incredible sums of money every year to help us purchase equipment to improve the quality of care we provide for our patients.

“I wanted to do something to say thank you to them and to play some small part in helping those fundraising efforts. Challenging myself in this way seemed like the perfect way to do it.

“Being the Chief Executive of an acute hospital trust, things can sometimes get a little heated – but I will never have experienced anything as explosive as this!”

Simon is funding the trip himself and will be using some of his annual
leave to complete the challenge, which includes tackling two active and two dormant volcanoes.

Mount Etna, which was used as the backdrop for the set-piece lightsaber duel between Obi Wan Kenobe and Darth Vader in the Star Wars film Revenge of the Sith, has erupted already this year, although its last major eruption was in 1992. Stromboli’s last major eruption was in 2009.

Simon has been preparing for his trek, which will take place in October
by running and sessions in the gym.He said: 

“I am currently running up to eight miles, three days-a-week, and my training regime also includes three gym sessions a week to build up back strength for the weight I will be carrying. This is mainly water, which is about 15kg for about six hours walking each day.”

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a type of scan that uses strong
magnetic fields and radio waves to produce detailed images of the inside of the body.

An MRI scan can be used to examine almost any part of the body,
including the:

• brain and spinal cord
• bones and joints
• breasts
• heart and blood vessels
• internal organs, such as the liver, womb or prostate gland

The results of an MRI scan can be used to help diagnose conditions,
plan treatments and assess how effective previous treatment has been.

The new MRI scanner will support nearly all care groups within SaTH and will improve care for existing patients as well as allowing SaTH to carry out some scans which patients have previously had to travel out of the area to receive.

Iain Gilmour, Vice Chairman of the League of Friends of the Royal
Shrewsbury Hospital, said: 

“We are extremely grateful to Simon for undertaking this amazing challenge to support our £1 million appeal to fund a new MRI Scanner for SaTH."

“It is a very public endorsement of the League’s efforts to ensure that our Trust has the very best equipment in order to offer the latest advances in technology to the patients of Shropshire.

“In this, our 50th Anniversary, we hope that this great fundraising effort will also spur others into supporting the Appeal in any way they can”