A HAIRDRESSER will lace up her running shoes and take on a marathon to say thank you to the charity who helped her dad after a devastating stroke.

Jody Smith, from West Bergholt, will be running the London Marathon next month for Headway Suffolk.

Her dad Gary was just 57 when he suffered a stroke in 2017.

It left him with speech, balance and movement problems and right-sided weakness.

Gary spent three months in hospital and underwent intensive rehabilitation.

Jody, who runs Feathers Hair Salon in Witham, said the help of Headway was a lifeline for the family.

“Life changed massively,” she said.

“Dad went from working full-time to having carers four times a day. When he got home from hospital everything was different and chucked up in the air.

“He lost most of his speech, vision and hearing. He also lost mobility in the right side of his body and the use of his right arm.

“It’s taken until now to get his seizures under control and the medications stable.

“It affected the whole family. I had counselling at Headway and the brain injury courses were amazing. They made it easy to take in and understand. We learned so much. You don’t realise the depths of the brain.”

Gary started attending Headway’s rehab hub in Ipswich one day a week and soon increased it to two.

Jody was chosen by Headway Suffolk as their London Marathon charity ballot runner after taking part in Headway’s Cycle Ride and Walk in 2018 and in the London Big Half marathon last year.

She said: “I’m nervous but I’m looking forward to it. I felt honoured to be asked to run for Headway Suffolk as it means a lot.

"It’s important because, unlike big charities, you can actually see where the money is going and people sponsoring at the salon can see that.

“People open up in the salon and talk a lot about life and you share stories. When I talk about Dad they can see his photos on the mirror. I was able to recommend Headway to someone looking for support."

Jody started training in October and is part of Jogging Made Easy (JME) Colchester every Sunday.

She hopes to run the marathon in under five hours.

Jody has already smashed her £1,000 fundraising target but wants to raise even more money.

To donate visit uk.virginmoneygiving.com/constancefield.