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Mum 'overwhelmed' by local firms' support for son

Heidi TomlinsonYorkshire
News imageBBC Katie, who has medium length brown hair and is wearing a blue topBBC
Katie said she was so grateful to everyone who had helped transform the property

A family whose house has been adapted so they can bring their brain-injured son home from hospital have said they are overwhelmed by people's generosity after several businesses stepped in to transform their property.

Katie's son, Joel, 7, suffered a severe brain injury following an epileptic seizure in April, and since then he has had to spend months in intensive care and rehabilitation.

Katie, from Castleford, set up an online fundraiser to afford to make the necessary changes to get Joel home, but local firms then offered to help out.

She said she just "wanted to say thank you" to everyone who had worked so hard to adapt the property, enabling the family to bring Joel home for Christmas.

"It's like a different house. It is really overwhelming, and I think we are really lucky," Katie said.

News imageA child's bed on a wood floor with rails on either side of it
The property's former kitchen has been overhauled to create a ground-floor, wheelchair accessible bedroom for Joel

The work on the property has taken 15 weeks to complete and the project was managed by Lewis Franks, from one of the local firms involved.

He said the ground floor had been stripped back and had been doubled in size to help the family out, with the former kitchen now Joel's bedroom.

"It's all been adapted now," he explained.

"We've had a hoist system put through and we've got the big extension on the back and what used to be the garage is now a wet room for him."

Meanwhile, a specialist Wakefield-based window and door firm also donated to the property.

Adrian Bradley, from the company, said: "We supplied the aluminium bifolds, all the PVC windows, all the glazing and all the installation, all free of charge.

"It's not about take, take, take - it's about giving things back."

News imageLewis Franks stands on the right of the image looking towards a sink unit and behind them is a tiled walk in shower room
Site manager Lewis Franks says the property's former garage has been turned into a wet room

Joel's dad, Mark, said people's generosity to get the property ready for his son's return home had been unbelievable.

"It's amazing what they have all done," he said.

Mark said he hoped having Joel back home would help his son's health improve.

"Most people say their children are different when they get home," he said.

"They are surrounded by familiar voices and familiar faces and they seem to come on in leaps and bounds."

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