A DIABETES sufferer has been praised for raising more than £25,000 for a vital piece of hospital equipment.Carolyn Stennett, 51, decided to do something to help the West Suffolk Hospital Diabetes Centre, in Bury St Edmunds, where she received treatment for her condition.

A DIABETES sufferer has been praised for raising more than £25,000 for a vital piece of hospital equipment.

Carolyn Stennett, 51, decided to do something to help the West Suffolk Hospital Diabetes Centre, in Bury St Edmunds, where she received treatment for her condition.

Determined to raise as much money as possible, she asked for sponsorship and items for a prize draw from local businesses, and rallied the support of seven friends who all undertook a mammoth 93-mile walk along Peddars Way, and the North Norfolk Coastal Path.

“I had made up my mind to raise money for the service and I always said it had got to go on a machine which the hospital needed,” said Mrs Stennett, who was diagnosed with diabetes 28 years ago. “When I was told that the cheapest of these scanners costs £7,000 but the best cost in the region is £20,000 I wondered how on earth I was going to raise that sort of money.

“But I was determined to raise as much as possible. We have very good friends and everyone has been so generous that we managed it.”

Dr John Clark, consultant diabetologist at the Diabetes Centre, said: “This is absolutely amazing and we are extremely pleased that Carolyn Stennett made such an effort for us.

“Having this scanner is going to make a great deal of difference to people with diabetes. We do not have this equipment at the moment and our patients have to trek to Addenbrooke's Hospital to get scanned.”

The Doppler scanner will enable staff at the centre to easily check the circulation in patient's legs, alerting them to any problems.

Dr Clark added: “If the blood vessels are found to be getting blocked then we can arrange treatment much sooner, before there is further circulatory damage.”