FRIENDS of a Newport man who suffered serious head injuries after falling from a taxi will hold a fundraiser to buy his family a specially adapted car.

Team mates of Alex Chant, 21, who played for Lliswerry Football Club from the age of seven, will complete a 24-hour car pull on roads around the Newport Velodrome starting at 6pm on April 23.

Alex, who worked as a postman before his accident, is currently receiving physiotherapy and speech therapy at Cardiff's Rookwood Hospital to help him regain his speech and mobility.

But it costs his parents Steve and Lynda £100 every time they bring him home for the weekend because they have to hire a car suitable for transporting Alex in his wheelchair.

His friends and member's of other city football clubs now hope to raise £10,000 to buy the family their own car.

Alex's sister Claire, 25, said her brother was making a steady recovery and is now able to hold short conversations and has regained some movement in his left side.

She said: "He's doing really well. He's progressing forward rather than stopping or moving backwards.

"He's come on quite a lot in the last few months."

Mr Chant spent three months in a coma after falling from the vehicle on the Southern Distributor Road following a night out in Maindee in March last year.

The circumstances surrounding Alex's accident still remain a mystery.

He was last seen getting into a taxi in Maindee Square, Newport on March 27 before falling from the black people carrier at 11.15pm that night.

Anyone with information, call Gwent Police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

Anyone wishing to take part in the fundraiser can call Justine Merrett on 07977552518.