A LOVING family are settling into a perfect new home in Poole thanks to a real-life DIY SOS mission.
Chris Churchill, girlfriend Steph Green and their two young sons Harry and Cody, who both suffer from the devastating skin condition EB, were just two weeks away from moving into their dream four-bed house when pipes burst and ruined it.
But two companies stepped forward to save the day and now the Parkstone property has full disabled access, ready for when Harry gets his first wheelchair next month.
Dad Chris said: “G R Westbuild were ready to get in and start decorating for us but they walked in and pipes had burst in the loft.
“They opened the front door and water came rushing out. It was four or five inches deep.”
The firm’s Geoff Harrod and Dave Taylor worked with Spectrum housing to repair and plaster the house free of charge and widen its doorways, before Mark Robbins moved in to sort the carpets and flooring.
It was ready two weeks later, and the family could move out of their cramped Turlin Moor home.
Harry, two, and Cody have a room each, while all their specialist dressings and medical supplies are kept in a separate room.
“It’s great the boys have now got normal bedrooms,” Chris said.
“There’s even a playroom downstairs, with a wet room with disabled access for Harry.
“It’s more of a home than the old place, where we just couldn’t cope really.”
They hope Harry’s electric wheelchair will bring him greater freedom.
But little Cody, nine months, has been in and out of hospital lately, hasn’t been putting on weight and needs to be fed through a tube in his nose, which must be changed every four hours.
“Harry never had these problems so it’s all new to us,” Chris said.
“But he seems to be coping OK.
“Cody is still very smiley. He’s different to Harry, who’s quite wary of people – he’ll smile at anyone.”
Painful disease
Epidermolysis Bullosa is a rare and painful disease that causes the Churchill boys’ skin to blister.
There was a one-in-four chance Cody would also have the condition – which normally affects one in 17,000 babies.
Both boys have lost their nails and are kept wrapped up to protect their skin, which is so delicate because of a missing protein.
Their airways and voicebox are affected, so they have tracheotomy tubes that can need cleaning up to 100 times a day.
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