FRIENDS of a popular Aberystwyth dad recovering from a serious head injury are hoping to surpass their £10,000 target with a day of fundraising on Easter Sunday.

Former teammates of Daemon Smith, 40, who played football for Penparcau and Penrhyncoch football clubs for 20 years, will take part in a charity football match between two select teams from either club as part of a day of fundraising.

Known as ‘Big D’ to his friends, Daemon, a staff member at Cambrian Printers, is now recovering in the neuro-rehabilitation unit at Neath Port Talbot Hospital after he fractured his skull and was left in a coma following a fall down stairs on New Year’s Eve.

Friends of Daemon say the money will go towards his ongoing care and contribute to the upbringing of his eight-year-old daughter Felicity while he is unable to work.

“The money will help support his daughter because things don’t stop needing to be paid just because he’s had this injury,” Daemon’s friend Warren Sedgwick told the Cambrian News this week.

The day’s event will take place at Min-y-Ddôl playing fields, Penparcau, starting at 1pm with a duck race along a short section of the River Rheidol, from Penybont Bridge to a finishing line roughly adjacent to the pavilion.

All 500 ducks have now been sold, raising £1,000 already.

The football match will kick off at 2pm and there is free admission, although players will pay £20 each and collection buckets will circulate the pitch during the game.

To donate to Daemon’s rehab fund, visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Big-D-Rehab-fund.

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