The Objective
Keith Parry’s family were told a nursing home was the only option for him when he was finally discharged from hospital seven months after suffering a severe stroke. His wife Linda was adamant that he should go home, so they turned their lounge into a bedroom for Keith.
Because his bed was right next to the stairs, he was affectionately known as ‘Harry Potter’ by his carers and local healthcare professionals, but this masked the fact that he had no privacy or facilities and was a prisoner in his own home.
His family were desperate for a new ground-floor bedroom that would be separate to the lounge and had facilities (including a bathroom and wet room).
Nearly 50 Tradespeople
22 Days to Complete
Delivery Value £70,000
Background
In December 2021, retired joiner Keith Parry suffered a stroke in an upstairs bedroom at his home. Upon dialling 999, his family were told there would be a five-hour wait for an ambulance. Friends and family rallied around, but it still took them 45 minutes to get him down the stairs so that he could be driven to his nearest hospital, where a crash team was waiting for him.
The 70-year-old was thrombolysed to break up blood clots and prevent new clots from forming – but that evening, he suffered a second bleed on the brain, which left him in intensive care for a week.
The stroke robbed Keith of his speech and mobility.
In total, Keith spent seven months in different hospitals in South Wales undergoing rehabilitation, and healthcare professionals suggested that he be moved to a nursing home.
Wife Linda flatly refused and had a hospital bed and lifting equipment installed in the lounge of their home – where Keith has slept ever since. Because their house is at the bottom of a steep bank, his family can’t get him out of the house, so Keith has only been out of the house three times in the last two years. When Keith needs to attend medical appointments, two ambulance crews are required, and often the fire service is on hand to help as well.
The Project
As the front of Keith’s house is on a steep slope, separate work has been completed to install an exterior wheelchair lift to make it much easier for Keith to leave the property – but the house also needed extensive renovations to create a bedroom (including a wet room) on the ground floor for Keith.
The extension was completed in three weeks and handed over on the bank holiday at the end of May. Band of Builders thanked all the nearly 50-strong team of volunteers who built the extension.
It also thanked suppliers including Topps Tiles, Williams, Saint-Gobain, Jewson, Okarno, Timco, Travis Perkins, Celotex, Perman Group, Triton, Weber, Visqueen, Robert Lee, Admiral Group PLC and South Wales Concrete Pumping.
