Hamish Patel's campaign for Kabwe Covid-19 ventilator

More than 200,000 people live here, but there isn’t a single ventilator.

The nearest is almost a hundred-mile drive away, at a hospital in the capital, Lusaka, and few can afford the journey.

But a man in Seaford is hoping to change that.

Hamish Patel is raising money for specialist hospital equipment in Kabwe, so ICU patients can be treated without having to make the journey.

The town needs to raise £20,000, and Hamish has already raised more than a tenth of that sum himself by walking 293km, the return distance Kabwe residents have to travel to the capital.

He has relatives in the town, and used to spend his summer holidays there.

He said: “Zambia is a majestic country and has provided me with many memories to treasure.

“However, my trips showed me the tremendous hardships many of the citizens go through in normal times.

“This is exacerbated a million-fold in the current coronavirus epidemic.”

Hamish said he wanted to raise funds to help the town’s “needy and often forgotten people.”

While medics in Kabwe have “next to no equipment to help them fight Covid-19,” in the UK, “Covid-19 control facilities are well developed and we are relatively better off,” he said.

Hamish suffers from cerebral palsy, and said his condition has helped him appreciate others’ hardships.

He said: “I am very fortunate that I am able to lead a normal life with medication and minor difficulties.

"This reminds me daily of the less fortunate and desperate human beings.

"I will therefore be most grateful for your donation, however small.”

Hamish is raising it alongside the Kabwe Hindu Association, which aims to support the efforts of the Kabwe Provincial Health Office.

The money will go towards medicine, and sourcing a ventiallator and personal protective equipment.

Hamish said excess funds could be used to fund equipment for hospitals in surrounding villages.

And he said the equipment would not only save lives amid the pandemic, but continue to aid the community for years to come.

“I am sure you will agree that this is a very noble cause which will help desperate, destitute and mainly forgotten human beings,” he said.

He hopes to complete the distance by the end of May, and his fundraiser will remain open next month.

You can donate here.

• The coronavirus Sussex Crisis Fund has been set up to help those affected by the pandemic. The Argus’s charity and American Express have each donated £50,000 to kick-start the appeal. Grants will usually be for up to £5,000. More information is available at www.sussexgiving. org.uk/apply. To donate visit www.totalgiving.co.uk/appeal/sussexcrisisfund