Inspirational Hassocks resident, 83, becomes finalist for prestigious award after raising £30,000 for charity

By Lawrence Smith
Published 20th Nov 2023, 16:40 BST
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An 83-year-old Hassocks woman has become a finalist for a prestigious award from UK charity Headway, the brain injury association.

Judy Tilbury has been involved with the charity for 26 years and has raised £30,000.

Headway said she is up for a Stephen McAleese Outstanding Contribution to Headway Award, sponsored by No5 Barristers Chambers.

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Judy first got involved with Headway Sussex in 1996 after her son Mathew, who was 24, tried to break up a fight and was hit on the head with a baseball bat, sustaining a severe brain injury.

Judy Tilbury, 83, from Hassocks has become is a finalist for a prestigious award from UK charity Headway, the brain injury associationJudy Tilbury, 83, from Hassocks has become is a finalist for a prestigious award from UK charity Headway, the brain injury association
Judy Tilbury, 83, from Hassocks has become is a finalist for a prestigious award from UK charity Headway, the brain injury association

Judy said: “It was just dreadful, and it affected our family so much because he was so young.”

Mathew went into a coma and never came out of it, dying nine days after the attack. Judy suffered a heart attack soon after.