RETIRED dentist Trevor Parsons, 85, is on a mission to open a desperately-needed medical centre in a town in northern Ethiopia.

Mr Parsons, who lives in Malvern, has already sponsored a local student through six years of nursing training and worked with him to build a medical centre in the remote town of Lalibela.

The final hurdle is to kit out the centre with the vital equipment needed to support 35,000 farmers and their families in the area, where men only expect to live to 49, and women to 51, and this will cost £40,000.

Eight years ago Trevor was visiting Lalibela to see the region’s underground churches.

He was approached by a man who showed him a young farmer was dying of gangrene from a snake bite. Trevor paid for the man to travel to a medical centre where his arm was amputated.

After returning to England, he stayed in touch with a young man he had met in the town, named Adisu, who wanted to study to become a nurse so he could care for people in his town.

Mr Parsons said: “I wanted to do what I could to support this dedicated young man. I was delighted when Adisu graduated after six years’ hard work, with glowing reports.

Now, with his support, Adisu and his brother have overseen the building of a new medical centre, which is just about complete.

It is Adisu’s dream to educate the population about vaccinations, health issues and to provide essential health care

The only way to realise this dream is for Trevor and his supporters to raise the final £40,000 needed for the vital equipment needed in the centre.

“This has now become my life’s work and, once it is complete it will be an amazing ‘thank you’ to the town that changed my life,” he said. “If we can encourage people to donate just a few pounds it will make a true difference to people just like us, who just happen to live thousands of miles away. They too deserve accessible healthcare, and with our help they can achieve it.”

Donations to the Lalibela Medical Centre can be made at gofundme.com/lalibela-medical-centre while more about the centre’s progress can be found at lalibelamedical.org.