Intensive care units named in honour of late chairman
Two children’s intensive care units are to be named after Leicester City FC’s late chairman, the club has announced.
Leicester Hospitals Charity has confirmed that the Children’s Intensive Care Unit (CICU) and the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at the Leicester Royal Infirmary will now be named The Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Children’s Intensive Care Unit in honour of the Thai businessman, who tragically died in a helicopter crash alongside Nusara Suknamai, Kaveporn Punpare, Eric Swaffer and Izabela Roza Lechowicz in October 2018.
Srivaddhanaprabha made a £2 million donation towards Leicester Hospitals Charity’s Children’s Hospital Appeal after the club’s Premier League title win in 2016, and the new tribute is intended to reflect his deep commitment to Leicester’s hospitals and the wider community.
The intensive care units will be consolidated at the Leicester Royal Infirmary’s Kensington Building as part of a plan to create the East Midlands’ first dedicated children’s hospital.
Leicester City vice chairman Apichet Srivaddhanaprabha, son of Khun Vichai, said: “This is a very proud moment for my family.
“My father always supported Leicester’s communities because he believed in giving back to the people that have given so much to us. His donations to Leicester’s Hospitals were about supporting the future generations of those communities and making sure there would always be help available to families that needed it most.
“Our family, Leicester City Football Club and the Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Foundation intend to honour my father’s legacy by continuing to support those communities in the same spirit.”
Leicester Hospitals charity director Lisa Davies added: “It is with the deepest admiration and respect for Khun Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha that we announce we will be naming such an important area of our children’s services in his memory.
“In his life, Khun Vichai donated so much to improve children’s services at our hospitals and regularly extended special invitations to our young patients to attend Leicester his executive box at the King Power Stadium. His selflessness and compassion for our city and its children was always deeply appreciated and we can think of no better way to commemorate his life and legacy than by dedicating the new children’s intensive care units at the Leicester Children’s Hospital in his name.”
Leicester Hospitals Charity is looking to raise £7.5 million to help complete the first phase of the new Leicester Children’s Hospital.
