FUND-RAISERS at Leighton Hospital were celebrating this week after the Mighty Magnet Appeal hit the magic £1 million mark.

The appeal to buy a Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scanner and suite to house it started in 1996 and has seen hundreds of fund-raising events across the area.

The latest donation of £5,000 from the League of Friends at Leighton Hospital tipped the fund over the £1 million target but the fund-raising will not be stopping just yet.

The appeal is set to run until the end of March to raise more money to help with the running of the unit.

The MRI scanner itself, costing about £600,000, uses magnetic and radio waves to provide internal images of the body.

It can be used to diagnose tumours, pinpoint back problems and give information about sporting injuries or after accidents but there is a 42 week waiting list.

Appeal chairman, Peter Foden CBE said: "We plan to run the appeal until March 31 as extra funding will help improve the facilities within the MRI unit to make it more user friendly to the thousands of patients who will have the benefit of the latest Scanner technology.

"On behalf of everyone at Leighton Hospital we can only thank so many people for their generosity in giving South Cheshire a scanning facility which will be second to none in the country."

The scanner has been ordered and is expected to arrive in the summer. Donations for the appeal can still be forwarded to the Mighty Magnet Appeal office at Leighton Hospital.

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