A MAKE-UP artist was reunited with her severely diabetic father this Christmas, thanks to an act of charity.

Collette Johnson spent Christmas Day with her father Brian Mansfield at her home in Chineham for the first time in nine years.

Brian, 75, had both legs amputated four years ago and is virtually housebound at his home in Southrepps, in Norfolk, some 200 miles away from Basingstoke.

Collette, 39, appealed on Facebook for help to find a way of getting her whole family together, as her father needed a specially-adapted car to take his wheelchair.

She said: “A lady came back to me and said she knew Ray Edwards, the chief executive of Limbcare charity. I got in touch with him and he was brilliant. Without them, there’s no way we could have done it.”

The charity paid for a specially-adapted car to take Brian and his wife Peggy from Norfolk to Basingstoke. They spent nearly a week with the family, getting to know his two grandchildren, Amy, three, and five-year-old Jack.

Brian and his wife stayed in the Premier Inn, at Basingstoke Leisure Park, and were taken to his daughter’s house by ADC Taxi, in Basingstoke.

Brian said: “Spending Christmas here was something I had given up on ever happening.”

A former RAF veteran, Mr Mansfield was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes towards the end of his career, in January 1974. Before that, he was present at atomic bomb testing at Christmas Island in 1958 – an episode he blames for the sudden onset of diabetes he suffered some 16 years later.

Limbcare is a registered charity offering support to the limb impaired and their families.

Collette, who runs CJ Beauty and Co from her home, said: “I have been so impressed with the way Limbcare have handled my situation. I’ve told them if there is anything I can do for them to help with fundraising then I will. Charities like this are like angels.”