Southsea band The B of the Bang reunite to put on fundraising gig for friend and dad-of-three with 18 months to live

The B of the Bang will play a gig at the Wedgewood Rooms this month to fundraise for dad-of-three Jody Sexton and his family after he was diagnosed with a brain tumour on New Year’s Eve.

The 43-year-old computer programmer had been experiencing memory loss, body weakness and excruciating headaches and spent nine hours in A&E waiting to see a doctor on December 23, 2019.

He was advised to visit Specsavers in Commercial Road but the opticians referred him to Queen Alexandra Hospital the next day before he was given his diagnosis.

Jody has now started chemotherapy treatment but the pair were left worried about money concerns as Jody has had to give up his job and wife Elle, who was a body piercer, gave up her job when she had their son Indio, now three.

The Southsea community came together and so far has crowdfunded nearly £13,700.

Band frontman and close friend of the family Chris 'Wit' Whitear decided to bring the band back together, which split in 2014, and put on a gig to help the couple reach their £14,000 target.

The 38-year-old said: ‘Jody is a great friend and he is an absolute legend. When I heard the news I was absolutely devastated but Jody is the most positive person I know and he is dealing so well with it.

‘He was always a big supporter of the band and we thought we would all come back together to help our friend and hopefully give people a good night.’

The gig will also feature indie folk musician Andrew Foster and oddball rock band Van Gosh.

Elle added: ‘We’ve known Wit in various incarnations of bands for many years, and all the B of the Bang boys, and have both supported them at many gigs for as long as we can remember. The fact that they’ve reformed to put on this gig for us is heartwarming, and their friendship and support is invaluable.‘We know it’ll be a great night with the other supporting bands too, and is another fantastic example of Southsea collaborating to show love at such a testing time.’

The event will be held at Wedgewood Rooms, Albert Road on Friday March 20 from 7.30pm. Tickets are £8 online at wedgewood-rooms.co.uk/ or £10 on the door.