COULD you resist the lure of food for 24 hours?

Two Newport women went hungry for a whole day yesterday to raise money to help pay for a Newport man's brain operation.

Emma Ceeney, 22, and colleague Chantel Grant, 23, of the data analysis department of the Office for National Statistics, decided to hold a sponsored fast after reading about Simon Henson in the Argus.

Emma said: "This is not the type of thing I would normally do but there was something about Simon's story that touched me."

Mr Henson is fighting a Health Commission Wales decision not to fund a brain operation that could ease his Dystonia condition, which has left him with a painfully twisted neck.

Friends launched a campaign to pay for the £25,000 operation at an English hospital.

The women hope to raise at least £250.

Emma said: "It would have been alright if only our colleagues stopped tempting us with crisps and muffins!"

Chantel added: "It was a struggle but I thought it was such a worthy cause."

Other staff are holding a raffle to raise funds. Simon Henson said: "I think it's wonderful how so many people are helping me."