A HOSPITAL doctor who took up running to raise money for vital medical equipment has passed a major milestone.

Dr Bill Lamb's campaign to buy insulin pumps for children with diabetes has raised £103,000 in only two-and-a-half years.

He has run 3,793 miles, including several marathons, and has recruited support from dozens of individuals and groups around the hospitals in Bishop Auckland and Darlington where he works as a consultant paediatrician.

The money has bought pumps for 29 of his patients and more are due to receive pumps soon.

But, with 350 children in County Durham already diagnosed with diabetes and about 40 new cases each year, there is still a long way to go.

The father-of-four was 49 when he started running, fuelled by anger and frustration at North-East health trusts' refusal to fund the pumps, which can change the lives of the children who use them.

The pumps provide a constant trickle of insulin under the skin, stabilising blood sugar levels, reducing the risk of hypoglycaemic attacks and long-term complications.

Most of all, they allow the youngsters to lead a normal life without five or six injections a day.

The downside is the cost - £2,500 to buy and up to £1,000 a year to run, working out at £1,200 a year over their eight-year average life.

Even though health trusts are changing their view, Dr Lamb will keep running.

He made his point to the Department of Health last year when he appeared in a British Medical Association list called the A to Z of Doctors Making a Difference.

He wrote: "There is something ironic about children living in the constituency of the Prime Minister in the fourth richest country in the world dependent of a middle-aged paediatrician running for charity to provide them with an essential item of medical equipment.

"I know of nowhere else in the country that has such an appallingly poor provision for children's diabetes care."

In contrast, Dr Lamb could not be more appreciative of support he receives from the communities around Bishop Auckland and Darlington.

Darlington Rotoract members have given £1,000 from their annual swimathon, former Avon lady Lesley Davy gave £500 and Alicia Graham and her grandmother, Joyce Walton, from Willington, organised a fair which raised £2,121.

He said: "The achievement is solely down to the people of south Durham and the dales over the past two-and-a-half years. The response from the local community is truly overwhelming.

"I will run for as long as it takes till all the children who need a pump have one."

Dr Lamb keeps a running diary on his website, www. run500miles.com