GENEROUS fundraisers have donated a £4,500 machine to a respiratory ward at a Worcestershire Hospital.

The Cough Up a Pound for CoughAssist campaign was set up last year by Bill Roberts of Redditch, who suffers from myasthenia gravis (or MG) – a condition which damages the connections between the brain and the movement muscles and can affect swallowing and breathing.

The CoughAssist machine, which has now been donated to the town’s Alexandra Hospital, clears excess mucus from the airwaves by mimicking a cough and does require a tube to be put down the throat.

Mr Roberts, aged 68, said he had set up the campaign after a frightening experience last year in which he was rushed to hospital with a chest infection.

“The staff took great care of me and after a week on the ward I was starting to feel on the mend,” he said.

“Feeling a bit cold one day I asked the nurses for a warm drink.

“When the steam from the drink hit the back of my throat my airways closed up.

“My MG made it hard for me cough my airways clear, my muscles were just too weak. Staff on the ward intervened and eventually I could breathe again.”

The former Master of the Freemason Doric Lodge near Redditch enlisted the help of other lodges as well as friends from his MG support group, run by the charity myaware, to raise the cash for the machine.

“I found out about CoughAssist machines through my support group,” he said. “A machine like this at the Alex would have really helped me out.

“I felt I had to do something to help patients in the same situation as me.

“I never expected the response I received to the appeal.

“Within just 12 months we had raised enough to purchase the equipment.

“I’m so grateful for everyone’s support.”

Respiratory matron at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust – which runs the Alex along with Worcestershire Royal Hospital and Kidderminster Hospital – Lynn Dale said: “As these machines aren’t classed as an essential item, there’s no funding for them in the NHS.

“It’s such a great bit of kit, it will really help our patients who have trouble coughing due to their respiratory conditions.

“We’re so grateful to Bill and everyone who’s donated to this cause.”

Provincial charity steward with Warwickshire Freemasons John Hayward said: “We were pleased to assist with such a worthy cause.

“We are confident that this donation will benefit to the hospital and its patients.”