A GRIEVING daughter is raising cash to buy a specialist chair for a dementia unit which looked after her dad in the last stages of his life.

Nicola Lawrence, 46, will run the Cardiff half marathon next month in memory of her Cwmbran father Tony who passed away at Panteg Hospital on August 12. He was 71.

The mum-of-two has already raised about £1,000 towards the hospital chair, which will help move patients comfortably at the hospital's dementia unit called Hafen Deg.

She said: "Dad was diagnosed a couple of years ago.

"It was quite a gradual decline until Christmas last year when he became quite poorly.

"He was admitted in March and very quickly deteriorated.

"He lost his mobility and ability to do anything for himself.

"But the unit was excellent. You couldn't have asked for better care in the last stages of his life.

"They are very supportive of families and were lovely with dad.

"It is a specialist unit geared for people with dementia.

"It's just a really good facility.

"Dementia is a really cruel and brutal illness. It takes the person away."

Ms Lawrence needs to raise more than £2,000 to buy the hospital chair.

She will do the Cardiff half marathon on October 5.

To support Nicola's fundraising log on to justgiving.com/yimby/imoD#/