The Big Build - Orpington DIY SOS

We're here for a couple who've dedicated their lives

to caring for others.

For a dad who's been struck down in a moment of tragedy.

They left here one day happy, excited,

and he came back and he wasn't the same fella at all.

I wish that no-one will experience what I have.

The children have lost the dad they once knew,

and their mum has been cut off from her husband.

And he was so great to the patients, he looked after them so well,

and now he's in this situation where he has to be washed

and cared for like a baby, it's so, you know, heart-breaking to see this.

It's a cruel twist of fate for a man who once helped the ill and infirm,

and now needs help himself.

And I miss him.

So we're here to rebuild a home and give something back to people

who've asked for little, yet given so much.

But our skills are going to be tested to the limit.

What is going on?

My heart rate has just gone right up, seriously, what's going on?

And we can't do it alone.

It's going to take a whole community to brave the wintry weather

to get the job done.

We've been waiting all day for this.

Yes, yes, yes, here they all are, this is DIY SOS The Big Build!

Orpington, south-east London, is home to health care worker Jason,

his wife Effie - a highly trained cardiac nurse -

and their two children -

five-year-old AJ and 18-month-old Isabella.

They saved hard and bought this three-bedroomed terrace

soon after five-year-old AJ was born.

They've always been a close family,

juggling shift work at the hospital with days out.

We like going out eating, you know, having a meal outside,

we enjoyed taking AJ to parks.

Jason and AJ are very close.

But that closeness has been shattered by one tragic moment.

18 months ago, whilst on a trip to the Philippines

to introduce newly born Isabella to their family for the first time,

Jason had a scooter accident.

He suffered a massive brain haemorrhage

and was in a coma for 18 days. It didn't look good.

Doctors said he wouldn't pull through.

He says it's going to be the last, you know, days.

I know that I'm not getting him back.

Remarkably, Jason survived.

The accident has left him completely paralysed down his right side,

and partially sighted.

The neurosurgeon told me,

"This is not like a film - within two hours he's going to walk -

"this is years,

"you need your patience, your effort, cos now you are a single mum."

Jason has had to learn the most basic of tasks all over again and,

although he is making slow progress, Effie's life has changed for ever.

I lost my friend, I lost my husband, I lost the father of my kids,

I miss his cuddle.

I cuddle him, I kiss him, there's no emotion...

..and I really miss that.

I normally call him on the bus, "I'm on my way..."

..and sometimes I still hold my phone and wish I can call him.

I miss those things, but I'm just, you know, hoping still.

Jason is stuck in the house,

and can't get up the stairs to the family's only bathroom

without two people helping,

so they've had to create this makeshift washing area and commode

built from an old wheelchair in the corner of the kitchen.

Jason washed and cared for people at the hospital

and, in a tragic role reversal,

he's the one who now needs the same care.

I feel sorry for Jason, he's losing his confidence,

he's losing his dignity.

My kids are running around

and they see Jason's doing his toilet

which is hard to explain it to the kids.

The children are struggling to understand what has happened

to their dad, the fact made worse because the extreme damage

to Jason's brain has prevented him from speaking properly.

Bizarrely what few words he can mutter are in broken Spanish,

a language he hasn't spoken since childhood.

This is particularly hard for five-year-old AJ who is autistic

and can no longer understand his dad and is missing him terribly.

It's very difficult to explain it to him

that Dad cannot play with him any more.

To makes matters worse,

Jason now has to use an orthopaedic hospital bed,

so Effie is forced to sleep on the floor beside him with the children.

And she's all but given up the idea of sleeping in the same bed

with her husband again.

Oh, his big bad claws.

The family are now stuck living like this

and it's down to Effie to try and hold everything together.

A few agencies advised me - give up work,

look after your husband full-time,

sell your house, go to the council house

and then you'll be entitled with benefits.

I am not going to claim benefits.

I love my job, I love being a nurse.

It's honourable that Effie wants to continue in the job she loves,

and to provide for her family herself.

So there was just no way we could not step in

and help a family who've suffered such a tragic ordeal,

and have done so much to help other people.

What is it that you need us to do to this house

-to make it better for you, Jason?

-Toilet.

A toilet would be important, and downstairs, yes?

Downstairs.

Or walk-in shower.

-If possible.

-AJ...

AJ and you...that you can play.

What's the difficulty with that?

Oh, sweetheart, I know it's been very tough, hasn't it?

They were very close before.

And you miss your time playing with AJ?

And with the English.

He forgot English,

so when they talk, AJ doesn't understand what he's trying to say.

It's extraordinary, isn't it?

And so this...this has caused a barrier between you and AJ,

so we need to create a space where AJ and Jason can play

and interact together more.

-Yes, please, if that's possible but...

-Well, we'll do our best.

I notice the difficulties with the steps as well,

very difficult to get in and out of the house.

-Yes, we just live with it.

-Just live with it.

I will make you a promise,

when you come back to this house, you will have better mobility,

he'll be safer,

and you will have space to be able to bond with AJ, OK? I promise.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Gracias.

Gracias. It's OK, we can still work in Spanish, it's OK.

Thank you.

This is our chance to give the family

a house which will help rather than hinder them in the future.

-Come over, guys, come and say hello.

-Hello!

And if you don't mind leaving your house in the hands of, er...

Don't worry!

We're going to do a good job on it,

we're going to turn things around and make life a lot easier for you,

make sure you get out more than once a month,

-and that you can move around the house, yeah?

-Thank you.

-BILLY:

-You haven't seen it yet!

On behalf of everyone, sorry.

Last night there was a blizzard and today it's absolutely freezing,

and yet the trades people of Orpington have not let us down,

they're here in their droves,

determined to make a difference for this lovely family.

And this family can actually have a bit of dignity,

-that's what we're doing, we up for that?

-Yeah.

OK, let's go to it, thanks very much, gentlemen.

There's not a moment to lose, let's get to work,

Chris is straight in organising the team downstairs.

So if you want to organise your lads to rip this kitchen out...

Everybody here knows the family story and it's galvanised them,

they're working flat-out already.

Billy has a cunning plan for the electrical work.

I'm going to hand it over to Jeff to organise everything,

and I'll just be a labourer, how's that?

No pressure there then, is there?

No pressure, but much safer for us.

As ever, Mark's in charge - or thinks he is -

and he's assigned Jules a very special project.

We've cleared away last night's snow

cos we've got to install a wheelchair lift for Jason out front.

It's a complicated business, but a project like this

should be a doddle for a builder of Jules' calibre.

I've got every faith in him.

All I've been given is that, build a set of steps for a specialist lift

that's coming from Denmark and being fitted by a group from Belfast.

So I think I drew the short straw this week with that little job.

Yeah, he's called Mark.

We're only a couple of hours in

and we've already demolished half the house.

Well, you can't hang around, can you?

With a blank canvas, we can start to see the scale of the task ahead.

It's going to be a massive challenge

to get the house working better for the family in just nine days.

And that's down to our designer Gabrielle Blackman,

who's back for more, a glutton for punishment obviously.

Look what all these lovely builders have done -

they've created a bit of space.

So what is your plan?

We've got to make this whole ground floor accessible to Jason.

At the moment he's....he's in that classic thing

that happens with people with disabilities -

he's just trapped in one tiny bit of the house,

and he's also having to wash in the kitchen,

which is really horrible for Jason and incredibly upsetting for AJ.

It's, again, it's a small house with a lot to put in it.

I don't want it to look like a disability adaptation.

I want it to be a house that Effie is really proud of,

cos she's a sociable person, she works incredibly hard.

I want her to be able to have all her friends back here

and be really proud of it, and for it to look like a beautiful home.

Gabby's got some big plans for this three-bedroom terrace.

Her design means we're ripping out the old kitchen

and building a new timber-frame extension to the rear

to create a large open plan kitchen, dining and living area

that the whole family can use together.

We're creating an all-important wet room and downstairs bedroom

for the couple,

giving them a space of their own for the first time since the accident.

The whole downstairs is also going to be levelled,

so Jason has independent access throughout.

Upstairs, we're giving AJ a custom built bed,

with reading area underneath.

Isabella will have a nursery of her own

and the other bedroom, used by Effie's sister and brother-in-law

while they care for Jason, is going to get a lick of paint.

Out front, we're putting in a new wide front door

and specialist wheelchair lift

so Jason will have independent access in and out of the house.

It's a lot of work in just nine days,

especially in such a small space, and with freezing weather.

Too much actually. We've already had a team on site for over a week,

prepping everything for us.

Without these guys putting in long hours before we arrived,

we'd never get the job done.

It's a deceptively big job and it's been tough from the start.

Along with everything else, the house was riddled with asbestos

which had to be removed.

With the concrete foundations now in position,

we are ready for the timber frame extension which needs to go up today

to keep the build on track.

It's time to dance for joy.

Just testing it for...

-A lot of weight on it now, ain't there?

-Yeah.

And the thing is, could do with a building here today.

I'm not sure where the building is.

Really? Ohhh...

I didn't really want to say cos I know how emotional you get,

but, erm...

No, I've lost interest now. There's a vapour trail up in the sky.

That is going to somewhere hot like Barbados or...

-There was supposed to be a building turn up on the back of an articulated lorry...

-..or Africa...

'It's nice to drift off into the sunshine for the moment.'

OK, relax, come off the beach, come back and join...

I'm back...

-Put down your Pina Colada.

-Where's the building?

It got stuck on the M20 last night in the snow.

This is rather bad news.

The delay with the extension means we are already three hours behind.

How are we supposed to get this work done in nine days,

when we're already playing catch-up?

We'd better smash something up - it's builder's therapy.

At least out front, we're in good hands.

-We've got Rodney...

-Plonker.

-..Plonker, Rachel, and Sydney.

-The A Team.

-Yeah!

Julian and the A Team seem to be making some headway

with the stairs for the specialist lift.

Have you worked out all those complicated, erm, like design things

-that you had on that piece of paper?

-Not entirely, no.

-But you don't think that matters in terms of building it?

-Not really.

I like things to grow, you know, evolve, as you're doing it,

-that's the Devon way of doing things.

-Is it?

So you don't start with plans as much as a thought?

That's right, you work on the thought...

-And see how...it evolves as you go along.

-Yeah, like evolution.

Trouble is that evolution took millions of years,

and we've only got nine days, well, eight-and-a-half days now, actually.

Our timber frame extension finally shows up

after being stuck on the motorway in the snow overnight.

-Where do you want them put?

-Yeah, just stack them anywhere.

It's now six hours late, time we just can't afford to lose.

-Are you the boss?

-Yeah.

-You're the big cheese, are you?

-I'm the Technical Director.

-Oh, right, Technical Director!

Why haven't we got a Technical Director on this? Can I be Technical Director?

-Do you have to have qualifications to be a Technical Director?

-It helps.

-I can't be, then.

-That's it, is it? That's the whole thing?

-That's the kit, yeah.

It doesn't look enough really to make an extension the size we want.

Oh, yeah, you've got enough there.

And how long do you reckon, then? End of today?

They'd have it up in a day.

Of course, the kit's no good without the vital instruction manual.

All right, well, look after those in the normal way we do as builders.

No problem, boss.

Yeah, perhaps we'd better leave it to the specialists, eh, Mark?

So what's the ceiling height going to be under that beam?

With a half a day delay, there's only one thing for it.

It's about time we ALL started to get on with it.

This house is not going to build itself.

Whilst you've been talking, they've built an extension.

No, whilst YOU have been talking...

No, whilst I've been helping carry a steel up, you mean,

whilst I've been laying a track in order to actually...

for the workmen.... Who... C'mon. ..helped carry the steel up?

-Who laid the track for the wheelbarrow?

-No...no...

Thank you very much. Who helped to unload your extension?

Where have you been? Nowhere!

-Don't do that...

-Nowhere.

-He's a grafter.

-Oh, no! What...?!

-What!

Nick "Grafter" Knowles, that's me.

Everyone here is grafting, well, except Mark and Gabby obviously.

We've been waiting all day for this.

We're chipping into the time we've lost

and, thankfully, everything is starting to go according to plan.

Well, for those who are using one, that is.

And Julian's stairs for his wheelchair lift is still evolving, the Devonian way.

It will just be one big solid mass of concrete block and concrete,

very, very good for the environment.

We're very eco, us boys, in our building techniques,

just loads of concrete, fire it in - job done.

Just chuck it all in.

I love all of you.

All this work is for a family

whose lives have been ripped apart by a tragic accident.

That's my boys.

Yet Effie has refused to give up hope and, through it all,

she's not only kept the family together,

but continues her work as a nurse

in the cardiac unit of her local hospital in Orpington.

So tell us about Effie,

what sort of person is she cos I've met with her and chatted to her?

Effie's great, she's a real delight, absolutely lovely.

She's like a ray of sunshine when she comes in.

You'd never think she had problems.

How well...? You lot actually went over to the Philippines

to help them come home after the accident.

When this happened, it was just unbelievable,

we just couldn't believe what had happened.

It's a tragedy cos I also know Jason. I worked with him in one ward,

and the little old ladies said to me,

"We don't want you to wash us or anything, we want Jason."

And now he's in this situation where he has to be washed

and cared for like a baby. It's so you know heart-breaking to see this.

I know he's suffering, and, for Effie to see this, she's just pushing on

and, you know, trying her level best to do everything and...yeah.

It must be... It must have pushed her right to the edge

and, as you say, she seems incredibly bright all the time.

She's got terrific strength, Effie, terrific strength.

Have you heard the story about when Jason had the accident initially?

She got him to the hospital and then the neurosurgeon was not available,

he was in another island doing another operation.

She rang him up and said, "You've got to come,"

and he said, "OK, yes, I will come,"

and then gave Effie a list of equipment and medicines

that she had to go and buy at the local shops for the operation.

Jason could have died really if it wasn't for her.

Back at the site, it's getting dark.

People say builders go home when it gets dark - it's not true you know.

7pm and this lot are still hard at it.

-Mark, you're in charge.

-I thought you were going to pick me.

LAUGHTER

It's been a cracking first day, a lot's happened up here -

we've stripped this room out,

there's been a lot of electrics done,

in fact, Bill is still working away down there

and so are his mates around the building.

The interesting thing here is that the bathroom's gone

and so have the walls that surrounded it,

new stud walls already going in, that room's been stripped,

but it's downstairs the big change has happened.

Julian's in the front room on his own, but it's nearly dinner time

and he tends to get a bit tetchy, so we leave him alone.

Look at the change in here, actually got an extension -

no roof on yet that will happen - steel, though, has already gone in.

Come through the forest of acrow props

and meet the amazing people who did this! Top effort, lads.

Really, really good. What a fantastic day

and what a massive change, and there'll be more of this tomorrow.

-In the meantime, dinner?

-Yes.

-Let's go.

Morning, morning, morning,

just look at the scale of the task we've undertaken!

We have produced an enormous amount of rubble on this job,

starting there and running all the way down here,

and this lovely gentleman has turned up with his grabber to take it all away.

We must have had 40 blokes in here yesterday

and about the same again today,

all chipping in and donating their time.

You know, people help me out, so what comes around goes around.

Do you know, I'm a big believer in that, the sort of pass-it-on thing,

just help each other out and it'll come back round to you.

How is it working with Bill?

Pretty helpful actually I have to say.

Is he really? Look at his little face all smiling.

Bit more snow, darling. OK.

We work in any conditions.

We've already had enough real snow,

and it didn't stop us the first time.

This lot are dedicated. Everyone wants to give Effie

and Jason the chance for a better future.

Despite everything, Effie hasn't given up hope,

she goes to every one of Jason's appointments

to learn all she can to make him better,

and this time they've allowed me to come along and watch too.

A little bit more, bring your arm across, that's it.

He comes here about once a week, but he needs to do things at home

to maintain his range of movement and the muscle length

and, so, Effie is really important for doing that at home.

But when you think how... How bad was Jason when you first left the Philippines? You were having to...

Everything, we have to lift him,

four people to put him in shower and everything.

He can't move, he can't...not even roll, not even sit...

-So a massive change then since you started?

-Oh, definitely, yeah.

This is odd, sometimes, because it feels, Jason,

as if we are talking about you as if you're not here,

but, of course, you are but...

Effie almost speaks for you at the moment, doesn't she?

-How far can he go?

-That's a very difficult one to answer.

How long is a piece of string, isn't it?

We make small goals and try and achieve them one by one

and keep moving forward.

I think you're determined, aren't you, Jason?

Absolutely determined to get better and to spend...to be more mobile...

-Mm-mh.

-More mobile and spend more time with...

-AJ and Isabella...

-Yeah.

-How about me?

He knows he has no chance of getting away from you!

That's because Effie is dedicated to pushing Jason forward

as she longs for the life they used to have together.

Well done. Good.

But she's had to accept things are different for them now.

What's been the hardest thing for you

about having Jason with this injury?

Someone to talk with.

I just really miss talking to him.

I miss his real voice, this is not Jason's real voice.

I miss that so much.

-You miss him?

-And I miss him.

-It's a lot to have to deal with, who keeps you going?

-God.

I believe in God, that he's always there, he never left me.

Although, with the accident,

when they told me that Jason had 72 hours left...

..I told him, "Give me the miracle, show it to me now, this is the time."

The doctor told us he will live only if there is miracle.

Effie, that miracle is a lot to do with you

making them take him into hospital,

making the hospital put him into intensive care,

buying the drugs on the way to the hospital

that actually helped to relieve the clotting.

You are his miracle.

When you close your eyes at night, Effie,

and wish for something, what is it you wish for?

I wish that...no-one will experience what I have.

I just wish that God please do not give this to other family,

leave it with me.

And wishing one day that Jason will be able to walk again.

Are you angry about what's happened?

No, I cannot look back, that is the past.

I have to deal with the present and think about the future.

You're an amazing woman, Effie, an amazing woman.

I think if anybody can succeed at it, you will.

If the new house can equip Effie

with the tools she needs to keep driving Jason forward,

it gives her a chance for a future

rather than just existing day to day.

To do this, we've got to maximise every square inch of living space,

we're even taking out the old chimney.

The whole reason why we've got to get the chimney stack down

is so that we can turn the wheelchair in the room down below.

Along with creating space,

we've got to make sure everything is flush for Jason,

particularly around the front door so he can have easy access

to his new specialist lift in his wheelchair.

The trouble is Julian's just spotted the floor level inside

is a different height than out front.

Shouldn't we be working this platform to come out at...?

Yes, this needs to be level with that.

Yeah, well, it hasn't been worked out to be.

All the dimensions are from this hard point and this.

-Where the platform lands, it really wants to land at floor level.

-Yep.

When I looked at it yesterday,

I thought, "It's going to be a nightmare, that is."

Everybody just says, "Oh, yes, just drop a set of steps in,

"put up a specialist lift that's coming from Denmark."

I've never done one before in my life.

Sounds so simple, but really it isn't.

Let's go and have a brew and ponder and, er, evolve and organinate.

You've got to admire him, he's so creative with the language.

"Organinate" - what kind of word is that?

He's a hell of a builder and a poet, didn't you know it?

With the build moving on at this speed, decisions have to be made

and made fast and, in my book, that means made by me predominantly.

We decided this wall was causing more problems than benefits,

the bath is 1,700 wide, the gap in here is exactly 1,700 wide.

That means it's too tight because,

by the time you've plastered or done anything to it, it's too tight,

-so better to take it down as it's only a single skin, yes?

-Yes.

-Then re-build it a little bit further...

-Just a smidge this way.

A little this way.

A bit more demolition but, you know,

we haven't quite finished knocking things down yet,

we need to start building things soon, don't we?

With the timescale as tight as this,

I haven't got time to go running to Gabby

whenever we make a minor change to her precious design layout.

I'm sure she won't make a fuss anyway.

What's going on? What is going on!

My heart rate has just gone right... Seriously, what's going on?

We took the wall out because it was a bit wobbly.

Plus the bath was too tight, the wall was only 1,700 wide,

the bath was 1,700 wide, it's too tight...

No, the bath was... I've ordered a special sized bath.

What size of bath did you order?

We ordered a 1,600 bath.

LAUGHTER

Unbelievable. You told us it was a 1,700 bath.

We just needed to borrow 20mm off of here

and you could have had a proper full-sized bath.

The wall was going to stay cos, as far as I knew, it was sound,

and we would just get a slightly smaller bath.

We'll put the wall back up where you want it,

we'll make sure there's enough room for a 1,700 bath

so that grown-ups can have a bath in it, happy now?

-Now, can you just stop interfering though, really?

-Helping.

-No, no, you're really irritating me.

-Helping...blue sky thinking.

OK, fair's fair. I admit this may have been a case

where it MIGHT have been better to ask Gabby before I went steaming in.

Out front, it's a different story, no-one's steaming in there.

In fact, work has all but ground to a halt on Jules' special lift.

-How's your hole going, Julian?

-Got rubble in it.

-Little bit of a problem, we're working the increments of the stairs out.

-Right.

-Any good at maths?

No, I had a mate who was a mathematician. He got constipation,

-in the end worked it out with a pencil.

-Yeah, yeah.

Have you ever made any stairs, Millar?

-Yeah, I've done stairs.

-Well, you come here then.

Oh, don't put him in it. How is this going to improve things?

He's made stairs.

-We need to work out from that point where that orange brick is.

-Yes.

Welcome to stair talk,

a weekly programme where people get together to talk about risers.

-..910. Divided by

-6. You've got another step here, remember.

Look at them, look at them, look at them all, look.

Come up 90, come up 90.

That makes six of them and they're trying to divide 191 by 6,

what they could do is go and get a load of Smarties and just hand them out one at a time to each other

until they've worked it out.

If we've got six steps at 90mm increments,

that's 540 plus a top step...

You what!

-He's a genius.

-Couldn't make it up, could you?

-Seriously.

-Oh, my God, yeah, I don't understand it.

Did you notice it got dark during the time of that conversation?

That's how long it took.

Despite everything, we are making progress.

Time to do some roofing. That will keep the weather out.

My name's Clive, this is Brian, and this is Dave.

What I like most is you're all wearing collars, look.

-We're smart, aren't we?

-The smartest roofers in town.

-We're the posh gang.

-Is that right?

-Yeah.

We've a landscaping team coming in today to look at the back garden.

So, in preparation, we've used it as a junk yard

and main access for 60 builders and materials.

This, if I'm not mistaken, is a gardening team, a landscaper...

-Oh, hello.

-Allegedly.

-What's your name?

-Tony.

-Tony, and who have you got here?

-I'm Daniel.

-Daniel...

-And I'm Ed.

-Do you like what we did with the place for you?

-Lovely start.

-Ain't it?

-Lovely start, like the Somme when I arrived this morning.

It's not going to get any better,

it's going to rain for the next two days and be freezing cold.

Why don't you cheer me up?

The key thing for us is mobility and access.

He can't lift his feet more than about 20mm with his walking,

but we do want him to be able to get in and out of his own accord,

-so everything's got to be flush and easy access.

-Yes, it will be.

The garden is going to be completely redesigned with a large patio area

which will be flush with the ground floor for easy access.

Along with this, we're creating a wheelchair-friendly pathway

so Jason can move around the whole area.

We're turfing the rest and putting a shed in and a water feature for AJ.

Is that our lovely wet room thing?

-Yep.

-Oh, fantastic.

Inside the electrics are almost in.

Two...

four...

..six...

eight.

He's used superglue instead of underarm deodorant again, hasn't he?

-We need nine.

-Oh, I was only one out.

Now Chris and his vast team of plasterers can start boarding

out and plastering the downstairs.

And after a night of head scratching,

Julian's once seemingly simple task is finally coming together,

and he's just got a bit of finishing up to do,

but he's feeling rather lonely this morning without his mates.

-Have you got any friends working with you today? How many?

-17.

Well, could you not spare one to come out

and stand with me or something?

They're all busy, unfortunately. OK, mate, see you later.

That wasn't very caring, was it?

The place is abuzz with activity today,

well apart from Jules' area, admittedly.

Look. One room down, seven to go.

Chris is in his element. You can't move for plasterers.

-This is Pat and his boys. Say hello!

-Hello.

-That's good news, isn't it?

-What's that?

I just got another plasterer for Chris.

You quite happy working with Chris?

Great, he's got 17 mates in there, so you can be his 18th.

We're good together. We're good together.

Oh, poor old Jules. He's going to get a complex.

How's Billy-No-Mates out there, all right?

It's unbelievable this is.

Yeah, that's going to help, Billy, thanks a lot.

On a busy site like this, where often up to 50 trades

a day are turning up, not to mention the deliveries and noise,

we rely so much on the goodwill of the local community

-and their cakes.

-Ooooh!

Thank you very much.

He does look like a 1970s anchor-man, newsreader,

-don't you think?

-Thank you very much.

Thanks, princess, that's gorgeous.

Go on, Gabby, lick my face.

Neighbours Bob and Jean have been here 40 years and knew Effie

and Jason before the accident.

Sorry about all the noise and mess going on and toing and froing

with vans and lorries, we're not disturbing you too much, are we?

-No, not at all.

-Sure?

-Yeah.

Tell us about Jason before he had the accident?

-Lovely, lovely man.

-Is he?

-Mm.

-It seems that Jason

and Effie are properly loved by people around here.

-They are, they are.

-People have no reason not to like them,

because they are lovely people.

Well, they all work up the hospital,

the whole family work up the hospital.

-They deserve it, you know.

-That's really nice, thank you very much.

Because everything is against them

including getting from their front door up there.

I mean, if you'd seen what was going on trying to get him up there,

you know, and then they've tried to walk him round, and he can't do it.

It's so great that Bob and Jean,

along with everybody around here has been so supportive,

just as well given the scale of the job outside in the back garden.

How long would you normally spend doing a job like this?

Two and a half weeks.

Two and a half weeks and you've got about four or five days to do it in.

We have and we'll get it done as long as it doesn't pour with

rain every day.

This is England. Of course it's going to rain.

There we go, see, what did I say?

This is the last thing we need. The garden team are literally up

to their knees in mud.

It's like Glastonbury without the music.

It's not the weather to be doing this.

And inside, the wet weather is causing problems too.

All the rooms done upstairs last night bar

a couple of walls in the hallway, which is brilliant, but nothing

dried, absolutely nothing dried. It's just completely soaking wet.

At this stage, we should be putting paint in the house and stuff.

There's no-one to blame, it's just the nature of the game,

you know, the weather is against us.

I can genuinely say we're behind.

With the clock ticking, the garden team are going to have to

carry on despite the weather.

Jules even has a special tent to keep his beloved steps dry.

The Orpington trades are giving it everything they've got to get

the house finished for the family, but really and honestly, with

only a couple of days left, it's starting to become a real worry.

Before the accident, both AJ and is dad were inseparable

and would love to spend time going out to theme parks together.

-Shall we go and see the lions now?

-Yeah, we're going now.

Life with a child on the autistic spectrum like AJ is

challenging enough.

AJ needs constant attention

and it's been up to Effie to do this alone since the tragedy.

The thing is that's why they've got the glass and the fence, AJ.

-We're not allowed there AJ.

-Look, AJ.

Oh, look, oh, look.

That means that days out as a family just don't happen anymore.

Well done, AJ, come on.

So, today, Billy has come along to help Effie with Jason and AJ.

-Which boat do you want to go, which one? The red one?

-Yeah.

You've picked a very lucky boat here, the Titanic.

Got to hold on tight, you ready.

All those things that AJ and Jason did together as father and son

have been taken away, and their relationship has been torn apart.

AJ's autism meant he had a devastating reaction

to Jason's accident.

AJ stopped talking. Two weeks not a single word, not even "Mum",

not even "Yes", not even "No."

One night he started screaming...

and he was just screaming for three weeks.

Today AJ is still coming to terms with what has happened

to his dad, and it's not helped by the fact Jason's

brain haemorrhage has prevented him from talking to his son

like he used to.

Hi!

Bye!

So four years you've been coming here.

What does it feel like now seeing AJ back here?

Good. Good.

Do you remember much of Chessington Zoo?

Just a little bit? Well, hopefully some of what we're doing today will

just rekindle some of the thoughts of you and AJ and Effie,

and with us doing the house and everything for you

it will take a lot of stress away from you, and then you can have

more time with the family.

I mean, Effie's doing the rides with AJ and when Isabella gets older

hopefully you'll be back on the rides with them.

Does Effie like cooking?

Cooking, hmm.

What we'll do, Effie can cook a meal and I'll bring my wife down

and we'll have a nice meal.

It's a nice kitchen, but that's our secret,

-I'm not telling you anything else.

-No, no.

Anyway, we're here to do our best for you,

and it's a privilege to be here doing it for you.

And now I'm getting emotional, you lovely man.

Thank you.

Oh, it's a pleasure. It's a pleasure.

You know, it's a difficult balance for Gabby to design a house

which meets both AJ and Jason's particular needs,

but she's determined to get it right, which is why she's involved

some specialist help.

-This lady has come along from the...

-Kent Association for the Blind.

..to give us an idea of what it is that Jason's able to see.

Gail's brought along a pair of glasses which simulates how

Jason currently sees the world. As a result of the accident,

Jason has lost a significant amount of his eyesight

and he now suffers from acute tunnel vision.

Yeah, you have to be really precise, don't you,

to actually find something and do something.

You think that you're looking in front all the time,

but in actual fact you're taking so much information around you

to avoid things when you're walking and things like that.

-I found that a bit of a shock.

-How do you think you'd manage

on a sort of day-to-day basis like that?

Just couldn't do half the stuff, could you, really, even less.

We certainly couldn't do what we do work-wise.

I wouldn't like to go through life like that.

No, it's extraordinary, isn't it? Absolutely extraordinary.

On top of having tunnel vision, the biggest single challenge

Jason faces to his independence is having to wash

and use a makeshift commode in the corner of the kitchen.

But the new ground floor wet room is going to change all that.

Basically, it's an all singing all dancing.

It will wash and dry at the same time.

Expensive, these bits of kit?

Relative to the cost of a carer, not very.

That's a very good point, actually.

-That's going to make a huge difference, isn't it?

-Sure is.

I think it gets BBC Four as well(!)

Does it really?!

And talking of wet rooms, there's a great big one out the back,

but unfortunately this one hasn't got a plughole.

What we're going to have to do is lay a scaffold board across,

walk it and keep rolling the board down to push the water off,

-hopefully.

-Right.

But that's the only way we're going to get rid of it,

it can't say like that and just sit in the holes.

Believe it or not, this mud patch needs to be a garden,

and we only have a day left to do it.

It's the final day and as ever it's over to the wonderful Gabrielle

to get everything in and finished.

It's lovely in here. I think you've done an amazing job

and your choice of colours are incredible,

but then you're always very good at this kind of thing, aren't you,

and especially on the last day where you really come into your own

and just drive the thing through to an amazing finish.

I'm braced for an insult now.

No. Tell you what,

if you do well you can have one by the end of the day, all right?

A classic case of carrot and stick motivational technique there,

I think you'll agree. Textbook.

Jules' wheelchair lift is really starting to look the business now,

and after probably the most confusing week he's ever had

it's almost done.

And it's time for the inaugural christening of his creation.

As a reward...

Here he comes. ..he gets to test it first.

Look at that. Very lovely.

-Am I allowed, Howard?

-Please, carry on.

That's it, thank you very much, I'm glad...

Look at his little face!

I know what's going through his head. He's going,

"I wonder whether I could install this at my house."

Howard, look, we really appreciate you getting involved

and helping us out with this, and he did all right, did he, our Julian?

Fantastic. The boys have been great.

It's a miracle, but it's not the only one that's happened around

here, the team in the garden have been walking on water this week.

As long as it doesn't rain too heavy later today,

these boys are in danger of actually pulling this off,

which would be something of a small miracle.

Got to love them, haven't you?

Unstoppable.

At this stage it's impossible to imagine the house as it

was before, which is great for us,

but for Effie's son AJ who's been diagnosed with

autistic spectrum disorder this kind of extreme change can be

incredibly distressing.

We just don't know how he's going to react to the new house,

so Gabby's hoping to try and smooth this difficult transition.

So, AJ, whose house do you think that is?

AJ's.

What do you think's happening there?

Erm... It's all dirty.

At the moment it looks a bit dirty,

but we're going to make it look really shiny and new.

AJ's behaviour has been up and down since the accident, so the more

we can make the house a safe stable place for him the better.

I mean, at the moment we're going through a bit of a bad patch

with him. You know, I said that he wasn't hitting himself,

hitting his head, but he does have these tantrums back again,

so hopefully once that place becomes a home again and settled

then we'll have an AJ who's willing to work in the classroom.

He's on the autistic spectrum, but he's doing incredibly well.

Oh, very well. He's coping with change, as long as he's had the...

what we've talked about, the preparation and the pre-warning.

Brilliant. So what is AJ into at the moment?

He still likes his trains, he always has had liked trains.

And books, loves books.

Although his house that he loved is going to be very different,

but hopefully in a way that he will be excited about.

I am worried, and it's such a lot of change so quickly.

And this change is happening before our eyes.

The trades of Orpington have overcome every obstacle that's

been thrown at them this week, and they're still going strong.

It's the final push and at this stage you can start to see

the results of all this hard work. Incredible.

One of the best experiences I've had.

-Really?

-Yeah, definitely. It's brilliant.

That's a thumbs up, then.

Don't sound so surprised.

I must say, Gabby is staying remarkably calm today.

SHE GROANS

Yeah, that's more like it.

If it's not a TV I don't want it.

No, it looks like a glass table.

So someone has mistaken the black shiny table for a black shiny TV.

And as evening falls on the final day, everything's really starting

to look lovely. What a transformation.

I cannot believe you've pulled this off, in this weather this week.

Incredible.

If I was to stand in the middle of that lawn I'd sink, wouldn't I?

By about eight inches, probably.

It's literally like a skin on a rice pudding,

but it will dry out fine, won't it?

It will. It'll be quite quick as long as we get the good spring weather.

I'm chuffed to bits and in awe of you and your team

that you've managed to keep going through the terrible weather

and the terrible conditions to create this.

-It's been a pleasure.

-A very cold, wet pleasure.

-Yes.

Just nine days ago we arrived to find a family in crisis.

I wish that no-one will experience what I have.

Jason's tragic accident has left cardiac nurse Effie and her family

facing a future in a house totally ill-equipped for their needs.

It's a situation we could never have solved on our own,

and it's only with the monumental help of the Orpington trades

and suppliers we've managed to do it.

We've knocked through and completely opened up the downstairs

to create this open plan kitchen/diner living space

which the whole family can use together.

The dark coloured flooring, door surrounds

and kitchen surfaces contrast with the white units and walls

which not only gives the whole space a contemporary feel,

it helps Jason see the different parts of the room more clearly.

The level floor throughout the downstairs continues out to the

front where Jason has access to his new specialist wheelchair lift.

And out to the rear through these beautiful bi-fold doors into the new

garden, which has been completely redesigned for wheelchair use.

Above all else the aim of this build was to solve

the problem of Jason having to wash in the kitchen, to give him

back some dignity. To do this, we've created a stunning wet room

with the all singing all dancing loo.

And off it a ground floor master bedroom suite,

so the couple can be together again.

Upstairs, AJ's room is a calming space with his handmade bed

and reading area underneath where he can retreat to

if things get too much for him.

Isabella now has her own nursery,

and we've spruced up the third bedroom where Effie's sister stays

when she helps out with Jason.

The old bathroom and toilet have been transformed

with stunning tiling throughout.

You know, the real challenge of this build was to give the family

a house in which Jason could do more himself, which in turn, hopefully,

will help start AJ to re-build his relationship with his dad.

Above all, I'm really hoping the new house will equip Effie

with the tools she needs to give her family a better future.

Right. Open your eyes.

Oh!

Oh, my God!

This is our house!

Thanks.

Ohh!

-Pretty cool, huh?

-It's beautiful.

But the main thing is that the surface here is all the same.

Yeah, it's all one level.

And it's the same all the way through the ground floor.

Oh, wow.

No excuse now for you.

It doesn't look the same house.

OK, this is your new living room area.

OK, wow!

With your television there is now a games console that has

hand-held controllers, so you can sit here with AJ

and with your good hand you can play these games.

Thank you.

Now there is one other thing I'd like to show you whilst we're here

in the ground floor piece, which Jason has already seen,

but will be a bit of a surprise for you. Come with me a second.

We've actually created a new access point here,

which is really important because of what's outside,

so I'm just going to open the doors and let you take a look.

Oh, my God.

Pretty cool, huh?

-Is that a....?

-Yeah.

It's cool, huh?

You can go out now, love. It's amazing.

Oh, thank you for giving back his life.

You'll be safe now.

It's too much.

But that's only about half of it, we have more to show you.

Oh...

Double bed... for you and me.

This is beautiful.

How much does this really mean to be able to actually have a bed

back together that you can actually sleep in?

It's a dream.

I start dreaming to sleep with him again

on our ten years wedding anniversary.

A friend of mine gave us a one night hotel

with a disabled access,

and that's the first time I hugged him again for such a long time.

You said to me the other day that you miss him.

I really, really miss him.

That stuck with me, so now... now you can cuddle up again.

This is your new bathroom.

Oh, my God. Oh, my goodness!

Shower!

Wow, love, look.

Essentially, what this is is a toilet that you can get to yourself

and be left on. At the point that you're finished,

it will wash you and will dry you.

Oh, my God.

It's important for your self-respect and dignity that you actually

were back in control of this part of your life.

-It's good?

-Good.

You can say it in Spanish if you want

Gracias.

You guys just gave us times one million more than we asked.

We only asked shower and toilet downstairs, and look, we've got

shower, we've got toilet, we've got bedroom, we've got everything.

There's only one rule... no selling it.

Oh, no. Not in a million years.

We will get old here with our grandkids, I promise.

It's built with love and care

and that's the most important in this world. It's priceless.

Do you want to see upstairs?

You will never need to go up there again because you are independent

downstairs, but do you want to go upstairs to see them this one time?

In which case I will have to help you on the stairs to get you

up there, is that OK?

One, two, three up. Good.

I've got you. And one, two, three, up we come. Good.

OK, this is AJ's room

Oh, my goodness...

Oh, AJ.

This is AJ. This is him - water, train, books.

Yeah.

He is going to sit here and just read all those books.

This is perfect, love.

It's beautiful, he won't come out

from this room. Once we hand over it now we're going to struggle.

Shall we go and see Isabella's room?

Yes, please. Yes, please, yes, please.

Oh!

Oh, my!

Birds!

You all right?

I was actually dreaming that

because I got a girl, I'm going to make her a girlie room,

when we come back from that holiday,

and then it didn't happen.

Remember, we were planning to make her a room.

So has Gabrielle got it right?

She did a great job in this, in the whole house.

The design - wow.

How did she know that Isabella loves birds?

Wow.

Oh, wow.

Is this what you needed? This house?

It's more than I needed. It's actually like a fairy tale house.

You see, I still believe in fairy tales.

I think I can understand why you wouldn't after what's gone on,

but you know, good things can happen.

There's still good people around, and you wouldn't expect.

Yeah, but that's the thing, you see,

you two are both good people who looked after people and took care

of people, and that's why people want to help now that you need help.

There's lots of amazing people that have done this,

you get a chance to meet them in a little while.

-Amazing.

-Right, children, so, what are they going to think

when they see their rooms?

-Oh, AJ is going to be...

-Happy.

-You think?

-Sure.

-Knock-knock.

-Wow!

All mine! What a surprise!

Wow!

That's your new bed.

Yeah! Ooh! What's this? AJ!

-Yeah, AJ.

-AJ's house.

Oh, wow! Look! This is Isabella's room.

Right, we've got one more part to show you.

So we need to get everyone downstairs.

Oh, my God!

-What do you think?

-Good.

Yes.

-He likes the water feature, look.

-Yeah, he loves water.

Shall I bring in your sister and brother-in-law just to help out

inside for a little while and keep AJ busy and happy and...

If it's all right with you, I'll get you to come outside and meet

with some of the builders that have been doing the work.

-We would love to.

-You happy, Jason?

Is the house OK?

SHE CRIES

Would you explain to everybody here why that was

so emotional seeing Jason use the lift.

We always struggle to go out,

and we always wanted to go out as a family...

..but it's so hard with Jason and me, I can't lift him all the time.

Guys, thank you so much for making this possible.

AJ, obviously, like, there are moments when he's excited

about something and it's very difficult to deflect him in his way

of thinking.

Plainly he's got something inside there that's exciting him

a great deal. He's just not interested in coming out,

he wants to stay in his bedroom. What does he think of his bedroom?

Guys, that is AJ. Gabby, thank you so much.

And Isabella, who loves birds,

she wants to know how you knew that she loves birds because...

How did you know that she loves birds?

-You told me, my darling, you told me.

-Oh, did I? I forgot.

The key thing, of course, for us was for Jason.

He wanted to have a space where he could re-bond with his son,

and Isabella, too of, course, cos he felt since the accident that they'd

become separated, so by having a flat walk-through whole downstairs

he can move around himself and he can re-engage with the family.

-Is it a good house?

-Good house.

-You happy?

-Happy.

Thank you so much.

APPLAUSE

Everybody, here's AJ.

Effie said the most extraordinary thing to me when I was chatting

to her in the middle of the week. She said "I miss him,"

which is strange considering Jason is, of course, still there

but because of the brain injury

they don't even speak the same language anymore.

He can't move around the house, he can't interact with AJ, his son,

which means so much to him, and they can't even sleep in the

same bed together.

Or rather, they couldn't, because that's all changed now.

Thanks to these people he can now assume those responsibilities as

a father that mean so much to him, and finally as a couple they can

get back in the same bed and sleep together and cuddle up at night.

That's what's happened here, that's what a community can do.

That's what you could do for somebody.

Maybe you know somebody who needs your help.