A charity golf day held by the Licensed Victuallers’ Association recently raised £750, which was donated to the new charity behind the hyperbaric chamber, HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment) IOM.

The donation kick starts fundraising for a new chamber. The charity needs £400,000 to re-open the facility by the end of the year.

Technical issues led to closure of the Peel Road, Douglas, facility in June 2018. Since then patients have been clamouring for it to re-open. When it closed, the chamber was treating 40 to 45 patients a day for a wide range of medical problems - from injuries to chronic diseases.

A new charity was formed to start afresh.

Debbie Barron, of the new charity, was handed the cheque at the Old Market Inn in Douglas.

Debbie said: ’It is most unfortunate that the island is currently without a hyperbaric chamber but the new charity HBOT IOM is determined to restore a service as soon as practically possible.’

She thanked all the members of the LVA for its donation and chairman Dave Ratcliffe for his continued support of the Hyperbaric Chamber.

The obsolete chambers will be shipped off and once sufficient funds are raised the new chamber ordered, which will then take three to four months to be delivered.

Having just one chamber means diving casualties will take priority over standard patients.

However, this is very unusual and there were just four emergency treatments of divers in 2017.

The ultimate ambition is to relocate entirely to a new site at Noble’s Hospital, but that will take years to achieve.

For more informtion visit www.hbot.im.

There are details about the ’gofundme’ campaign https://ca.gofundme.com/hyperbaric-chamber-iom together with individual sponsorship forms for the forthcoming Parish Walk for individuals wishing to help raise funds for the new chamber.