The Big Build - Arundel DIY SOS

Mum of four Amanda Worne is an incredible force of nature.

Were you dropped in a bucket of caffeine when you were a baby?

My mum's very, very loud, really, really outgoing, super bubbly.

Being a mum is my life, it's everything to me.

It's what I was put on the earth for.

But this mum's been left paralysed from the waist down after a horrific

bike smash almost killed her.

It was just like a fact - Mandy, you're never going to walk again.

With an unbreakable spirit, she's grabbing life with both hands...

That's a good boy, come on.

..but she's struggling in a house that's risking her health.

It's awful that she can't do anything.

Because the wheel, if it moves by a millimetre,

she'll fall down those stairs.

However, nothing compares to losing her role as a mum.

It's just sad that your mum can't really

kiss you good night or something.

There's no pain that compares to it.

To put this family back together,

we'll need the support of a whole community...

It's about fixing something the hospital can't fix.

..but most of all, it's about giving this family

the one thing they really need.

Thank you so much.

She can be a mum again.

All the usual suspects are here.

We have just nine days to carry out the job

and our designer this week is the wonderful Sophie Robinson.

Where are we going to find an army?

Well, they're already here because this is DIY SOS - The Big Build!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Amanda Worne and her family live in Sussex

and she counts herself as very fortunate.

My children are my heroes.

It's down to them that I get up in the morning.

-Thanks, Mum.

-Cheers.

-No, you are.

I've got four of them, aren't I lucky? All of them as well.

No, I'm such a lucky lady.

She and builder Vic have four teenagers -

Megan, Jacob, Amelia and Joe.

And being a mum is at the centre of Amanda's world.

They're my life my children, absolute life.

Hook, line and sinker - my babies.

Amazing mum. Her whole life revolves around the family.

Just a great mum, great wife, great person all round.

Despite the size of the family,

the couple have lived in the same modest terrace house

since they married 19 years ago.

I've never had no reason to move, you know?

Every time Mandy had another baby,

I just put another room on the house.

There's no more space to put any more bedrooms,

so we had to stop there.

Life was pretty good, but one summer's day in 2015,

fitness fanatic Amanda went for a training ride on her bike

and her world came crashing down.

I got to the top of a notoriously steep hill,

I thought to myself how lucky my life was,

that was the fitness and strongest I'd ever been.

Little did I know that that would be the last time

I'd ever stand because, as I started the assent down the hill,

I realised that my brakes weren't working on my bike.

I could see a load of bushes on the other side of the road and I felt it

would soften my landing.

Unbeknown to me, there was a sign, it was double posted.

I took full impact

and I could feel like a warm fluid going up my legs

and then there was a sudden realisation

that it was actual paralysis.

It crept right up to about my waist and at that point I just knew.

It was just like a fact -

Mandy, you're never going to walk again

and I was just thought, "You silly, silly girl."

Amanda was lying alone with a broken back, collar bone,

seven smashed ribs and a punctured lung.

I can hardly breathe, I can't move, I've got no phone,

I'm in the middle of bushes,

no-one knows I'm here and at that point in time

I actually thought my life was possibly over.

I thought I could die.

But as I shut my eyes these four faces popped into my head,

of course, my children.

I was thinking, "You can't die." And I thought,

"Right, I'm going to get out of this. I'm not going to die,

"I'm going to get out of this situation

"and I'm going to get help."

After an hour lying in the ditch,

a passing cyclist heard Amanda's cries and she was taken to hospital.

Doctors confirmed what she already knew.

I'm not going to walk again.

I said, "Please, don't look so sad."

I said, "I'm alive." I said, "Do you know what it felt like

"lying in those bushes for an hour thinking you're going to die?"

I could still use my arms, I could still cuddle Vic,

I could hold his hand.

They were the big things that meant so much to me,

rather than the fact of what I'd lost.

Amanda was determined to focus on the positive,

but it was a shock for the family.

Life was perfect and to have it flip upside down

so quickly is, like, really...

To get your head around, it's really, really hard.

She told us that she won't ever walk again and I remember saying...

I remember telling her that I wished it was me

and, like, crying and everything.

Seeing their faces when they came in, so serious and grave and,

you know, I had to keep trying to reassure them, "I'm fine, I'm fine."

And that's really hard. I did feel a lot of guilt.

To see your own mother in a state like that, it's...

But she just smiles.

It's like...

I couldn't believe how she handled everything.

When you see her cope with it so well...

Like, she carried the whole family.

That's literally the only way to describe her.

Amanda spent six months in rehab at Stoke Mandeville while Vic looked

after the kids and worked full-time.

I get up a couple of hours before I need to go to work,

so I can get some housework done, washing etc.

Then obviously go to work and then come home and help out with whatever

needs to be helped out, dinner, tidying, hovering, you know,

look after the kids here at home.

Yes, Vic stepped up,

but when Amanda left hospital it wasn't the happy ending

that they were all hoping for.

We thought she'd come home and it'd be fine,

we wouldn't need any adaptations or anything,

but she needs a lot more than what we thought.

She needs help pretty much all the time.

Like just going to the bathroom, she needs someone to help her.

Good boy.

Vic did what he could,

putting in a ramp and buying and installing a second-hand stairlift,

but it's not meant for disabled users and is dangerous.

My legs have once spasmed on the way down and got caught in a banister,

so I could have ended up breaking a leg.

That was horrible.

Amanda risks burning herself in the kitchen,

she can't wash by herself and has to use the toilet with the door open.

The biggest heartache for Amanda though is losing her role as a mum.

Being a mum was the one thing in my life that I'd wanted to do,

I'd had these four beautiful children

and my dream was just to be able to bring them up.

But now her kids have become carers to her.

I do appreciate everything you do for me,

but I would rather that we could turn it round

so that I could do it all for you again,

and that you can have your mum back, even if she can't walk,

but you can have me back in every other capacity.

We need to make that happen.

What will make your life better?

A house where I can function and be a role of the mother to my children

and actually do things that I normally

would be able to do for myself,

but this house has been so restrictive for me.

-What do you miss?

-What do I miss? I miss being able to cook.

I couldn't, with the old oven that I had,

use it because it was so dangerous.

I don't mean to be rude by asking,

but it's important if you're cooking,

-where you could possibly spill burning hot things on you...

-Yes.

..do you have much feeling in the leg area at all?

-I think it's more dangerous because I don't.

-Precisely.

So I could have hot fat on my legs and not know.

A couple of times I'd go to bed and I'd have blisters.

Would it make a big difference to life in the house

-if we can get things sorted out for you?

-Yeah, absolutely.

Obviously, yeah, we'll get through it,

-but it's just a bit tough at times.

-Tough.

-Tough.

I felt so guilty that I had the accident and what I've caused,

and I feel frustrated because I can't do anything to make it better.

We know some people who might be able to make it better.

Would you like to meet the guys outside and say hello to them?

Yes, say hello to them all. Yeah, go out and say hello.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I can't believe how many people are here.

I'm just completely blown away

because since I've had my accident I feel

I've had the role of mum stolen away from me and my children have

had to grow up so quick. So you're giving that back to me.

-I can't thank you enough. Thank you very much.

-No.

It's lovely to see you all here and I just hope you have a nice time

doing it because we're going to have the rest of our lives here to enjoy

your work, as a mum!

-Thank you.

-Thank you. Thank you very much.

Well, there's no better motivation than that, is there?

To give us a fighting chance,

we've already knocked down the old conservatory

ready for a replacement extension.

So now we can flood the site with local trades.

This house is small and we can't build out much further

than the current floor plan. So to make it work for Amanda,

we're going to have to completely change the layout.

You come in here, you give me 20 minutes or up to one hour

and we've got the house completely stripped. It's mad.

Unfortunately, it takes a little bit longer to put together again.

We've got some demolition demons on this job.

-Someone squashed the shed, who was that?

-That was Donk.

-Donk?

-I've got a Donk.

-Right.

-Is that because he's a bit of a unit?

-He took that...

I didn't have to grind that stuff out, he just pulled it out.

Half a shed.

HE LAUGHS

Yep, definitely a young man's game this.

How old are you now? HE CLEARS HIS THROAT

He's 20 years younger than me and I'm...

HE CLEARS HIS THROAT

120, Billy?

Anything else you noticed as you got older?

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, there is a few things.

Want to share any of them?

-Because otherwise it's a really dull question.

-Hmm...

What's the question?

What was the question?

I can't remember. I literally cannot remember,

-that's how dull the answer was.

-Yeah. Hmm.

So you don't get any more exciting as you get older, do you?

HE LAUGHS

You can see all the way through the house now, which is nice, isn't it?

Now that we've taken a couple of walls out.

Come and have a look, let me show you the bathroom. There you go.

Now it's open plan.

Well, the stair lift's going straight to the skip

and Jules has a long journey ahead.

I'm going out to the back garden,

but it's about three miles away because I've got to go up the road,

around the streets, out onto the main road,

a load of other main roads and come around the back.

So it's probably going to take me about an hour and a half.

So I'll see you shortly.

Through the magic of TV,

we can get straight to the back and see the extension arriving.

Two walls up already, we've been, like, an hour on it.

-So how long do you reckon?

-What, until finished?

-Yeah.

-A couple of hours.

Jules might have made it to the back garden by then.

Our progress upstairs has slowed to snail's pace, too.

We've uncovered this steel.

It was put in by Vic when he converted the loft,

but with the new layout, we'll need to move it.

You'd think we could just cut it out and get going,

but this holds everything up. If we take this out,

the converted loft falls into this room's floor

which falls into the floor below.

We'll need a detailed and complicated plan to move it.

Are we doing all this just to get rid of that post into this wall?

-Basically.

-So what he's done is perfect.

Oh, what he's done is perfect, but it doesn't suit the new design.

The designer wanted a bigger landing.

So we're not doing this because we actually need it for space for the

-lift or anything else?

-No, no.

-We're doing it because the designer wants a bigger landing?

-Yeah.

And the thorn in our side designing this home is Sophie Robinson,

bringing a burst of colour.

And I mean a lot of colour,

like hurt-your-eyes kind of colour, so much colour.

Look at you, the bottom half of you disappears into that wall

and the top half of you disappears into that wall.

-Yeah, yeah, perfect.

-You've dressed colour appropriately.

I'm channelling, yeah, Amanda's love of colour.

They're primary colours you wear.

Yeah, yeah, they're good, aren't they?

We wear black on this site. This is what we do, we wear black.

-Yeah, you won't catch me in black.

-Not going to happen?

-Not going to happen.

-OK.

Sophie's plan for this house is all about giving Amanda access

to as much of it as possible.

The kitchen will have a rise-and-fall worktop

so Amanda can get back to the cooking she loves.

The living room will be extended to give the family

somewhere wheelchair-friendly to be together.

There'll be a dining area and cosy sofa,

all leading to the new garden.

We're putting in a proper lift so Amanda can

easily and safely get upstairs, where she'll have a new wet room,

a luxurious bedroom for her and Vic and she'll be able to get to her

younger kids bedrooms to kiss them good night

and we'll decorate the loft rooms,

but right now it's an empty shell.

I understand the reason that we're having to do all this upstairs is

because you want this post moved from here to there.

Yeah, because the lift is going here and for Amanda to be able to get out

of the lift and move freely around and access all the rooms,

she doesn't want to be going around that.

OK, we thought it was style thing the bigger landing,

-but you're say it's a turning circle?

-Totally, to give her access to all the rooms.

The most challenging part of this whole project,

from a design point of view, is how are we going to get everything in

and give everybody the space that they need?

In such a tight space, have we got room for those earrings?

She's up for a laugh, our Sophie,

and with those earrings on who can blame her?

Oh, look, steel's coming in.

Meanwhile, after an epic quest across the land,

being overtaken by small children on scooters,

our Devon friend has made it the realm of the back garden.

HORN BEEPS

Flies in my teeth. I had to put my glasses on,

I was getting all the flies in my eyes.

Such high-speed.

That was good fun, though. I enjoyed that.

And now he's in his natural environment, digging a hole.

No-one has any idea why.

Meanwhile upstairs, Chris the steel man

is about to make our design structurally sound.

This huge support steel needs to run the width of the ceiling

on the first floor.

Interesting steel system going in.

Yeah. Cut this column out, new steel in, new column in.

-Then away we go.

-When are we thinking of putting those steels in?

As soon as you're ready.

Well, it needs to be ASAP, as everything's being built round it.

But with this lot of grafters on site, it shouldn't be long.

One of our hard-working volunteers has a very special connection

to Amanda. It was Gary who found her by the road after her accident.

I was on a regular Sunday ride and I was grinding my way up Berryhill

and just heard voices from the undergrowth, basically,

cries for help. I went poking around in the undergrowth

-and there she was.

-Have you got any medical training?

Yeah, I have. I did seven or eight years in the coastguard.

-Well, there you go.

-So I've done a bit from that.

She was the most beaten up person I have ever come across

that was still alive. She knew exactly what was going on.

I didn't tell her, because I didn't know how she would react.

But she could only actually move one arm.

It was very apparent that she'd a broken collarbone

and she had no feeling in her legs, so she couldn't move at all.

You've since become friends with her, haven't you?

-Yeah, we're great friends.

-So what sort of person is she?

Because we obviously get to meet a snapshot of her in her life now.

-Yeah.

-But she seems unbelievably positive and strong-willed.

She is. She's a very strong person in many ways

and she's dealt with it incredibly well.

So what's the future like, then,

if we get the house sorted out for them and she gets some of that

-independence back?

-It will just transform her life.

Do you like what we've done with it so far?

Yeah, it looks good!

We're laughing, because it's such a mess but things are happening.

There's drainage for the new wet room

and electrics are in the capable hands

of our little prince of darkness,

whose great trick is to hand on responsibility.

This is Calum. He's going to be signing everything...

My new best mate.

He's going to be signing everything off, so this is our band of heroes.

And what we're going to do, we're going to do a room, room, room,

rather than spread us all over the place.

Hopefully, that's the way they've organised it

and that's the way we'll do it.

Yeah, but that might not actually happen, Billy.

Hold on, stop drilling a minute!

One second, everybody.

I need the electricians and the plumbers

and the joiners out the front for five minutes.

We've got a change on the inside of the building.

It's become apparent whilst putting the big steel in upstairs,

that if we put it where we've got it at the moment,

we can't fit in the lift.

So something has to change.

So basically, the lift has got a ceiling and a floor on,

so as that goes up, that's going to strike the steel in the top ceiling.

The biggest issue with this build

has been getting this lift in this house.

It's been so hard and now we've just found out that the steels are

going to encroach into the lift shaft

and the lift won't be able to hit the ceiling.

It looks like we're going to have to do the unthinkable,

change the whole layout to move the lift.

So we need to do something with that WC, but that lift needs to move.

This means changing the electrics, plumbing, everything.

This could put us massively behind.

So we're proposing to put the lift where the WC upstairs is.

Yeah.

But the biggest effect of changing the design

is Amanda might end up with less usable space for her wheelchair.

Yeah, you lose something upstairs, don't you?

Which means there's no storage in Amanda and Vic's bedroom.

In the end, we can't compromise the structure of the house.

Our only option is to keep the layout as it is,

but raise the new steel into the ceiling

above the reach of the lift shaft, but that means our steel man

needs to find a longer upright support.

-That post, can that be extended?

-I'll go and have a measure...

-OK.

..see what I've got and I'll come back to you.

-OK.

-Yeah.

-The weight of this whole building is resting

on his shoulders and his steels.

Dealing with unexpected difficulties is something Amanda knows all about.

Since she became paralysed,

she visits schools to help inspire kids

to overcome problems in their lives.

This is me doing my first race and I'm going to do London Marathon

next year as well. I'm very, very lucky.

We want to look back at 90 and think, "I'm really glad I did that.

"I did all of those things."

But it's not always rosy for Amanda and her family.

Because of the house,

sons Joe and Jacob have had to take on roles way beyond their years.

She's been kind of amazing about it.

It's kind of almost harder for you lot to get your heads around what's

-going on, I'd have thought.

-It was a little bit shocking.

My life was really good at the time,

I really enjoyed life and then till then,

-it kind of hit a dead end.

-Is that what it felt like?

-A little bit.

-Kind of things...

Normal life had come to a stop?

-Yeah.

-Your mum says that you've done...

You've kind of all turned into carers a little bit for her.

Yeah, I mean, there's times when I've walked down the stairs

and she's lying on the floor where she's fallen out her wheelchair.

Obviously, she can't do anything, so I've got to go over and pick her up.

There's times in the mornings when we've got to help her.

With dinner, she can't put stuff in the oven or take stuff out the

oven, so we're always on call to just help her.

Yeah, it's like you can't really be a kid any more.

You have to really step up and, like, grow up and just take it.

It must be so hard for her to have all the responsibility and all the

independence just stripped from her overnight.

I think that's what she finds the most,

that she's a 45-year-old woman and she can't look after herself.

But she does have her bad days, like everyone does,

and she tries to hide it and she tries to stay as

strong as she can, but everyone must know deep down, like,

living without your legs must be so difficult.

So how proud are you of the way she's dealt with

what she's been dealt, if you know what I mean?

Words can't describe it.

I don't know how she's done it at all.

And she makes us all so proud.

We have a choice to make whether to actually improve, like,

the areas for you guys or concentrate on getting

the downstairs sorted for your mum, in terms of being able to move

around the house and things. So what's the priority?

-For mum.

-Definitely.

-Yeah.

She really likes being independent and then sometimes,

she says to me it's like living in a prison.

It's like living inside a cage.

Like, she wants to do stuff.

She wants to cook. She wants to help us with stuff but she can't because

it's not accessible.

By doing the downstairs, you're sort of bringing our family life back,

which has been missing for the past year.

So that would be doing...

That's better than anything anyone could ever give us,

to restore normality, basically, is a dream.

Great lads, eh?

However, it's a dream that won't come true unless we can

get the lift in without compromising the space for Amanda.

The calculations are being made to see if the steel can be raised.

Tell me the plan. Tell me the plan of attack.

-It fits.

-It fits?

-It fits.

-Yes! Whoo!

-Give him a round, lads.

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Right, panic over.

Yeah, we're back in business.

One, two, three, lift.

Not only are they really professional in what they're doing,

but they really care for Amanda, because they met Amanda

and the family and they just want to make it right for her.

It's like a band of brothers, us lot,

and then we get a bigger band of brothers wherever we go.

And how amazing that we get the chance to do a job like

this and at the end of it, a mum gets to be a mum again?

It's not just Amanda that everyone's working so hard for.

Their situation they're in at the moment

where the lady's in the wheelchair, I've had to care for my old man

through a young age. I was very young and it ain't easy,

do you know what I mean? Having been a carer, it's not.

This, what we're doing now, is giving her freedom back.

That's good enough for me to be here

and give up my time if it's giving the kids in there back their mum,

freedom and happiness.

Thank you, sir. And look what your time has done already...

Big day upstairs. All new windows throughout.

The big change is moving this little pole from here to here,

so we've got a new steel in here and a new extension on here and we've

made a start on the garden.

Look, there's even a roof on and it's waterproof.

That's pretty impressive, isn't it?

And that was just day one.

It's now day two and a hive of activity on site.

Everyone's trying to catch up after yesterday's delay, but it does mean

some people can't get at the job.

Wondering why I'm just poised outside?

There's a little house and there's 15 chippies chippying,

20 sparkies sparkying, ten plumbers plumbing.

I can't physically get in there.

So I'm just checking all my materials

and getting a game plan in my head ready for tomorrow.

When the door opens for plasterers,

they'll fly in that little house.

He's like a coiled spring and the walls are going up, Chris,

so it won't be long.

We're starting to see what this house might look like.

To be able to adapt this house for Amanda's wheelchair use,

has been so uber-challenging,

and it has meant that the bedrooms have had to come down in size.

For Joe, especially, this is his bedroom, but I think space aside,

design aside, storage aside, you know,

one of the most important things about this bedroom

is that Amanda can actually get in here

and tuck her little boy in at night,

because it absolutely breaks my heart that since her accident,

she hasn't been able to do that.

We're giving Amanda at home but we're also giving her back

the opportunity to be a mum.

And that's just the best feeling ever.

And one of the ways we're going to do that is by making

the ground floor level throughout.

Out the back, Jules's big hole turns out to be a soak away,

that's what he's digging, which will capture any ground water,

stopping flooding in the house.

I'll just finished my breakfast and I'll come play diggers, too.

Nick's not very well. He's not going to be in for a bit.

He's got that problem where his head's stuck to the pillow again?

-I think so, yeah.

-Or is it an ear wax problem?

I'm here. A man's got to eat, you know?!

-Right.

-You've got it on your chin.

-Have I?

-Not that one, the other one.

What is it with people insulting me today?

Hang on...

What are we going to do with the garden?

We've got a lovely little plan for the garden.

It's going to have flowers in it.

It's going to have mud and it's going to have little bits of wall.

You've done a lot of landscaping, haven't you?!

It's going to have flowers and mud in it!

Talking of landscaping....

-What happened to the hole?

-It's gone.

-We like to show the viewer at home...

-Yeah?

-..what goes on.

-You were here late, right?

You grabbed the camera.

I hardly grabbed the camera, did I?

-So therefore...

-It gravitates towards me.

I called the second camera operative.

What were the pictures like? Were they any good?

Yeah, actually, they're not bad.

You can see the soak away.

Can you talk us through those...?

That's where I keep all my tricks.

I thought it was maybe in case you find yourself in an area where you

needed to put out lots of candles quickly.

Have you ever been linked up to the circus at all at any point?

-Where's your earrings today?

-Oh, they're killing me, man!

My ears are killing me.

-I've got some great news.

-Well, let us be the judge of that.

-You can't just announce it.

-You are going to love this.

-Really?

-You are going to so love this.

-OK, go on.

You know you wanted this leather apron for Amanda?

For Amanda, so she can cook safely without a lot of fat dropping

-on her legs, yeah.

-Yeah, which is a really lovely idea.

-Can't find a local leather worker, that's the trouble.

-Well...

Oh, she's only found the creme de la creme

of leather workers.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Hi. How are you doing?

-Welcome.

-Good to see you.

We've got a fairly weird request.

And we're delighted to help. We are able to do anything you wish.

She's the designer, which basically means

she wanders around going,

-"Hello, flowers, hello, trees, hello, plants."

-Plumping cushions.

And I'm a practical kind of person with the team,

so we want things to look elegant.

I think that's why I'M here,

is to throw a little bit on on both sides.

-Really, you're here to mediate?

-Yes.

-Shall we take a look?

-Come on in.

-May the battle commence.

I want to create something that feels feminine,

that feels like a kitchen pinny, not like a big leather barbecue.

So this could be pink.

She's going to next ask for you to put frills on it.

Don't put frills on it.

Now that's elegant and brown.

I just went to the loo and I blew my nose.

Not on this bit, on another but, obviously.

But I thought, "What a lovely colour."

Leave the design to us, big guy.

In terms of the design, I'm bringing in lots of flowers,

butterfly motifs, you know, all of that kind of stuff.

Well, I think at the moment, Nick's winning

the battle of designs because...

But I think Sophie's going to play a crafty one and when we go,

she's going to stay behind and have her final say anyway.

So I think anything that Nick says at this point is pretty pointless.

Yeah, what does he know?

I can tell by the look of their faces, I've got this.

Home, Jules, and don't spare the horses.

HE LAUGHS

And whilst we're in a Roller, back on site, Chris is on a roll...

-Fandabbydosey!

-..with his boys chomping at the bit.

I don't think I've ever seen so many plasterers in such a tight space.

It's the way to do it, though, isn't it?

-How many have you got here?

-16.

And they're all happy and they're all bouncy and they're all joking.

-Yeah.

-That's the plasterer's way, isn't it?

They're not a miserable bunch at all, are they?

-No, no, no, no.

-The whole house is feeling the love.

We had a floor go down last night, which was rather nice.

So it's all pretty much level throughout the house now,

and this has got to be the level of the finished garden as well,

which is where he's going and he's going.

So let's take a look at the garden.

Nice mood board, I like that.

Look, can I put this mood board next to your moob board?

THEY LAUGH

So roof's done.

Lunchtime on day three.

HE LAUGHS

And with the roof done, it means the scaffold can come down.

Hang on, isn't that a record?

This has got to be some kind of record, hasn't it?

Absolutely. Like a broken one.

Day three and the scaffold's coming down.

-At 11.35am.

-It's got to be some sort of record, this, hasn't it?

-Scaffold going down.

-Day three and the scaffolding's coming down.

-Is that a record?

-Is that some sort of record, day three,

-the scaffolding coming down?

-You're brilliant. He's brilliant. See that?

Did you know that's a record? 11.35.

I think we've got round to the start again.

I think it was you and me at the start.

These heroes are working so hard because they know

there's a family in need.

Over the last 18 months, Vic's taken on the role of a full-time carer,

not only for the kids, but also for Amanda.

All of that whilst working full-time as a builder.

I mean, to be fair, the big change in terms of your role...

Yeah, like, when the accident did happen, you know,

I could cook and I could use a dishwasher

and the washing machine.

So it didn't come quite as bad as what it could possibly have been.

We've got through it, muddled through it.

The kids have had to fend for themselves a bit more,

-I would think.

-It is a big change, though, mate.

Oh, it is a big change, yeah.

But I never thought I was going to run away from it.

Just take each day as it comes.

On that basis, then, we've been thinking about

doing this build for Mandy.

-Yeah.

-It seems to me that it's not necessarily just for Mandy.

Well, no, because if Mandy can get back to doing what she wants to be,

which is a mum, it takes the pressure off of everybody.

It will give us all a bit of our life back, hopefully.

Take the pressure off you a bit?

Yeah, definitely 100% take the pressure off me.

Yeah, 100%.

You work in the building trade. I do.

Obviously, plainly, no matter how hard you tried,

-you would not have been able to have got this done.

-No.

So what do you make of all these people,

up to 100 people a day, to come and make this happen?

Yeah, obviously, very grateful.

It's amazing what they've done and to come there for nothing as well.

-And they don't know you.

-And they don't know me, no.

That's absolutely amazing. It's amazing.

It puts your faith back in humanity a little bit, doesn't it?

Yep, it certainly does.

What made you give up your time to come and do this for nothing?

You've got to pass it forward where you can.

If no-one gave anything, life would be horrible.

All that pink stuff going on the walls

means we've broken another record.

I don't want to tempt fate, but this is the last bit

of plastering they've got.

It's the quickest we've ever plastered a house ever

in the history of!

And the floor fairies are in, which means with four days to go,

we're in a really good place.

Quite interesting, this is day six of the build,

because we always talk about it in numbers, but in the real world

it's a Sunday and it's just as busy as any other day of the week.

It doesn't actually ease up at all.

-What's your name?

-Paul.

-Paul.

What have you come along for, Paul?

I have come because my son's school is at the bottom of the hill

in Bury where that awful accident happened,

so we heard about it and I thought I'd come along

-and give you guys some ice cream.

-Nicks' Licks.

-No, I'm Nick.

-I know you're Nick!

-Are you Nick?

-You're Nicks' Licks today.

-That's very lovely. Thank you. Are you Nick?

-I'm Paul.

-So who's Nick?

-You're Nick.

-Oh, is this specifically for me?

-I thought you were actually...

-Just for you.

Oh, mate! That's fantastic.

I'm slow off the mark, I know,

but you'd have brain freeze too if you're eating,

if you were eating ice cream at eight in the morning.

What's your one?

-Is that one all right?

-That's nice, that one.

Oh, that Nick... Paul, makes a lovely ice cream.

Hugs all around.

If you had to describe that, how was it?

It's like a cross between the biggest hug

I've ever had off my smallest sausage dog

and waking up next to my wife.

We may look like we're just standing around having a laugh

but we're making progress.

The lift shaft is finished ready for the lift to arrive tomorrow.

God, I hope it fits because it's quite complicated!

Paint's going on the walls and we have the happiest decorator

-in the world.

-Oh, absolutely, mate.

Always happy when I'm painting.

-Happy, happy, happy!

-See what I mean?

It's not just whites in this house.

The kids' loft rooms are getting a spruce-up.

Meanwhile, on the first floor, it's a different story.

Different story, see what I did there?!

First floor... Right.

This obviously you can't work out whether it's for a boy or a girl

-because you've got blue walls and pink floors.

-That's it.

This is the master bed. This is for Vic and Amanda

but isn't it a gorgeous colour? Really deep, relaxing.

It'll look gorgeous in the evening. Really pleased with the colour.

-No.

-You don't like this colour?

Oh, you're not going to like what's going on in here, then.

-This isn't feeling good.

-Is it going to be bright in here as well?

I'm not going to win this one, am I?

Sophie's brought Megan and Amelia to see local artist Sarah,

who's been making something a bit colourful for Amanda.

Well, I think this is a sort of integral part of my design,

something, you know, handmade

and Sarah's been working so hard on this,

because this is a big piece of crochet, isn't it?

-I mean, it is your speciality.

-Yeah, it's a big project.

So what can we do for beginners, cos I'm not that good at it, either.

We thought we'd make some pom-poms.

So your mum, with this incredible positive mental attitude,

I'm guessing a lot of people who meet her probably actually

can't fully appreciate what it's like for her.

If you met her, you would never know the things

she has to struggle with at home.

She hardly ever moans about how much pain she's in and she's in a

-lot of pain a lot of the time.

-A lot of the time.

But you just never know.

So do you worry about her for things like that?

-All the time.

-Yeah.

-Because she has good days and bad days,

where her legs spasm a lot or they don't spasm as much

or her back hurts, or it doesn't,

and with the stairlift and stuff, if something happens,

no-one's there to help her.

So you're worried that she's on her own in the house,

-knowing...

-That something could happen and no-one's there for her.

-That stairlift was a bit dodgy though, wasn't it?

-So dodgy.

So the house being redesigned, what's that going to give you, then?

I suppose peace of mind.

-It's going to give us our childhood back.

-Oh!

Can't answer better than that.

-Wow, they're huge.

-Oh, wow, they're big!

They'd make super earrings.

-Oh, my goodness!

-Perfect.

She literally couldn't help herself, could she?

Back at the house, I'm about to stop Sophie's multicolour madness

in its tracks.

Look at that. That's our friends coming back with the pinafore.

So I reckon they've done it in brown leather like I asked them to.

Oh, yeah, brown leather with a lion roaring.

With a lion roaring on it, that's what I wanted, yeah.

Now, look, it's Jules's toilet paper blue, actually.

Good choice, Jules. That's great.

And then there's the thin leather in the middle,

-so when you sit down, it folds.

-Yeah.

And the embroidery detail and then this is when you've got

-your hot pans on your lap.

-Yeah. That's very elegant, actually.

You managed to combine the elegance I wanted

with the ridiculousness that she wanted.

I think Jules won that one.

-That's very nice. Well done, everybody.

-Yeah, it is.

That's genius. Thank you.

From things that perfectly fit to something that apparently doesn't.

With the lift due to arrive in less than 24 hours,

Mark has discovered a huge new problem.

I went into the lift job and I don't think there's enough clearance

to get the lift up through the first floor.

This wall between the toilet and the lift shaft is five centimetres

too wide for the lift to fit in.

But moving it will mean taking down tiles, moving pipes, wiring, etc.

It's a nightmare.

-You still need 50 mil, though, don't you?

-Yes.

But James, who's been with us since day one, might have a plan.

Basically, we're just going to take that wall,

make it 50 mil smaller and put it back together.

Hopefully we'll get away with it.

-Fingers crossed.

-All right.

Making the wall narrower is going to be really difficult to do without

damaging the tiles on the other side.

Just a case of being careful,

-taking our time, get it out...

-Yeah.

-..put back.

This level of care being shown by our trades

is all about getting a mum back in the saddle,

which may seem a strange or inappropriate use of words

but in this case, it's actually very appropriate, as you're about to see.

Before my accident, I was quite frightened of riding

and then a friend said to me that riding

would be a really good experience, having had an accident,

because you gain four muscular legs,

where you've lost the use of your two legs that no longer work.

One, two, three.

On you go. Lovely.

I'm genuinely gobsmacked at Amanda

and the fact that she doesn't have...

I thought she'd be strapped into the saddle.

That's entirely her own core strength

that's holding her in position.

If you'd have seen her six months ago,

you know, you wouldn't think she would be doing this.

-Are you not at all scared?

-No. No!

How determined is she by comparison to other people?

Oh, totally.

Like no-one else I've ever met, really.

She's the most positive thinking,

determined person that I've probably come across.

And that's why she's doing so well.

Good girl.

How is that possible? It's amazing, isn't it?

That grit and resilience has been enormously challenged

since the accident 18 months ago.

It's such a huge thing, isn't it?

I mean, with all the challenges that you've faced,

isn't it extraordinary that you can actually deal with

the loss of the use of your legs,

but you couldn't deal with, not being able to do the things

-that you wanted to do as a mum?

-My whole life was for my children.

But I'd lost my role of being a mum and that really hit hard the most.

My disability isn't because I don't have my legs,

it's because of my house and that was the frustrating thing.

I can have a real, you know, emotional days

where I do get ever so upset and I will sob and sob and sob.

I remember trying to get flour out of the cupboard just to make

something and it was silly, I just couldn't reach it.

I just had a real meltdown.

You can't, as you say, always be on a high.

-Of course.

-You do have to have days.

I guess I used to worry that if I started crying,

I might not stop again.

It's good to be open but I don't like to upset the children too much.

Obviously if I cry and get really angry and upset,

it then upsets them.

-It makes them feel guilty.

-Yeah, but by the same token,

kids have to grow up with a sense that it's OK to be...

-Yes.

-..to be human...

-Be human.

-..not superhuman.

-Yeah.

Because they are... I've never met children more proud of their mum.

-Really?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Because they...

They're teenagers, so it's not cool to tell their mum

that they're proud.

-Yeah.

-I had a lot to live for, didn't I?

I had so much to live for that day.

There's anything up to 100 people a day crawling all over your house,

doing six months' of work in nine days.

They're the ones who've really given me

my role back and they're the ones, I guess, at the end of the day

that I'll be so thankful for for the rest of my life

for giving me... Every time I'm doing something for the children,

I'll have a big smile on my face thinking, "Gosh, you know,

"all those people who came to the house and they've done this for me."

It's just going to be beautiful

because it's a house built with love.

And she's not wrong.

The build's motoring along...

except in the troublesome lift shaft.

James has less than 12 hours to get this wall narrowed

before the lift arrives.

-Morning!

-Morning.

-Morning.

-Just a day to go, so I've got here early.

It's 8.30 and, you know, our mate doesn't normally see 8.30, do you?

Well, look how bright it is.

Who wants to get up and, like, squint

for the first couple of hours of the day?

Have you had that earwax problem sorted out?

Did it stop sticking your head to the pillow?

It's sorted out now, is it?

See, that's not necessary, is it?

What is necessary is getting this garden finished.

-Plants are here by nine.

-Got topsoil?

-Topsoil's here.

-Six tonnes of it.

-Sounds like you've got it all under control.

-Oh, yes.

-With a day to go.

-Don't jinx it!

We're in the final push now.

The all-important lift is due to arrive any minute

and upstairs, James has worked magic.

So you're the man who's managed to unskin a wall from behind

the plasterboard, which has been tiled

-without damaging a single tile and put a whole new wall on?

-Yeah.

That's... That is, isn't it? That is...

-Remarkable.

-..pretty amazing.

-It's been good.

It's been emotional, I tell you.

You know, at the very start you said it would be emotional

and I think, yeah, it definitely has been.

It has been emotional for us, too,

especially because the arriving lift is very special to this DIY family.

Six years ago, we helped an amazing man, Eric Rivers,

who suffered with motor neurone disease.

This time that we've got from here on in

is the most precious time we've got as a family.

This lift meant the family could be together.

Thank you so much. It's beautiful!

You've changed five lives.

I was falling.

You guys have joined hands and caught me.

Thank you. Thank you.

Sadly, Eric passed away over a year ago

but his wife Davina has decided to make an incredible gift

to Amanda's family.

Davina. It is Davina.

-Hello, hello.

-Hi, sweetheart.

-How are you?

-Hello!

We've got a present for you. Hello, hello.

How are you doing? It's lovely to see you all again.

-Hello.

-Hi! How are you doing?

-Very well.

You've brought us a present.

We thought you might be able to use Eric's lift

and I know you've got a very special person that needs one.

-Yeah.

-And we were very keen that somebody could use it

again after Eric passed away because it made such a difference

to our lives and we'd love it to make the same difference

to someone else. And I just know he would be delighted

that this is going to be used for somebody

-that's really in need of help.

-I don't doubt that at all.

A helping hand, you know?

He'd have been the first person to offer help

-if he'd had the opportunity.

-100%.

-This is amazing...

-Yeah.

-..recycling all this.

Now the lift's here, it's just the finishing touches.

What the flaming flamingo is going on in here?

Oh, it's gorgeous, isn't it? Isn't it amazing?

If you say so, Sophie.

We've also got an amazing mechanical bed for Amanda.

These gentlemen last did a bed for us

when we did Eric Rivers's house.

-Excellent.

-So how amazing is that?

How coincidental is that that you've come to help out?

Look at the colours as well.

You've done the colours we wanted.

And talking of the lift, it's now fitted and working perfectly.

This is cool.

This is very, very cool.

My sofa's arrived! That is even cooler.

I'll tell you what is cool,

we've got a rise and fall worktop for Billy to live under.

-It is high, yeah?

-It's good, isn't it?

With just hours left there's a final problem...

..the washing machine won't fit under the counter,

so the plumbers are staying late to make sure it's sorted.

Were you going to do anything tonight?

I was going to try to put my little boy to bed,

but I haven't done since Tuesday.

Never mind, it's all for the right reasons.

These trades are brilliant.

Nine days ago, Amanda was trapped in a house that stole her role as mum.

So our house of horror, as I like to call my house,

because everything in it is just not designed

for someone in a wheelchair.

She was struggling to hold on to her dignity

and her children had become carers.

It's like you can't really be a kid any more.

You have to really step up and, like, grow up and just take it.

It's taken an epic effort...

-It doesn't actually ease up at all.

-It's been good.

It's been emotional, I tell you.

..from a whole community of trades...

I don't know how much money I'm going to have at any one time,

but I know I've got a limited amount of time,

so the most precious thing I can give you is time.

..to make a family complete again.

We've given them a spacious and colourful living area

with wheelchair access throughout.

There's a new dining table where the family can put the world to rights.

We've packed it with automated controls

so Amanda can be independent.

And we've made the garden completely level.

It's now an oasis of peace, with raised planters

and even space for Amanda's hand bike.

Travel through the generous entrance hall and you find yourself in the kitchen,

which has rise-and-fall worktops

so Amanda can get back to the cooking she loves -

and to be the mum she used to be.

There's low-level storage and all mod cons,

to make life that little bit easier.

The lift, so generously donated, will transform another life,

finally giving Amanda the freedom to get around the house safely.

Upstairs, the wide landing has a huge turning circle,

and leads to the new wet room,

giving Amanda back independence and some dignity.

With a bit of luxury thrown in, too.

The new master bedroom gives Amanda and Vic

a sanctuary to be a couple again -

and yes, the colours are vibrant and fantastic.

There's a state-of-the-art mechanical bed,

and Amanda can open the curtains

with a touch of a button.

All within easy reach of Amelia and Joe's rooms -

so a mum can finally kiss her children good night.

Sophie's design reflects their personalities,

and upstairs is now a riot of colour.

Up in the loft, we've given Jacob and Megan

cool and sophisticated rooms,

which reflect the young adults they're becoming.

This house is finally a place Amanda can call home.

We wanted to give you a space that you could operate in

where you could be a family again,

where you're able basically to be...a mum again.

So...

we hope this is it.

Three, two, one. Open your eyes.

SHE GASPS

Ooh, wow.

Oh, my God...

Look at that, Mandy.

-My rocking chair!

-Your rocking chair.

A pink rocking chair!

It's just too much to take in. It's just amazing.

It's just...

-Thank you so much!

-Lovely.

It's beyond words,

it's beyond anything I could have imagined.

We've got some pretty important things here, this is your central heating unit -

now, you can take that with you wherever you are in the house,

and it will make sure that whatever room you're in,

it's the temperature you want to be.

So... Do you want a moment?

Just take a moment out for a little hug, shall we?

You didn't think I'd cry!

NICK LAUGHS No! I didn't.

Sorry...

I've got central heating

and I can control it myself!

That sounds really silly, but just to have control is so important.

It really is.

Thank you so much.

Oh, my God! The kids will just absolutely... Look at the...

Wow. It's amazing.

There's a couple of things that are worth mentioning -

so if you want to watch TV during the day,

or you want a movie you can close the curtains,

-but you can control the blind from here.

-Can do it from there as well.

-Yeah.

The idea is basically that you're in control of all of these things.

-I am.

-Yeah?

-I'm in control of everything.

You are in control of everything.

Also, you'll find that the house is flat from here

-all the way to the back of the garden.

-The garden looks massive!

Now it's all easy for me to get to and everything.

-It's a great family space, don't you think?

-It's phenomenal.

We would never, ever have been able to do this, would we?

No. Never, never, never, never, never.

-I've got more things to show you. Want to come through?

-More?! Gosh.

I've only just recovered from THIS amount.

So this is your new hallway.

We asked all of your kids to write down what...

-No, they didn't say these things...

-So these are their words.

They're the reason why I got through all of this.

VOICEOVER: And the next room

is going to give her back what she wants most of all.

Wow, look at the kitchen.

Wow!

-Oh, my goodness.

-You can get underneath.

But look at all the stuff as well, and the cooker!

Yeah. The trouble is, it's too high, isn't it?

A little bit, yeah, maybe.

But it goes up and down?!

Oh, wow!

How's that for a sitting point?

SHE SNIFFS

-It's my little heaven, isn't it?

-It is. Yeah.

-My little paradise.

With cooking, if you were to spill anything hot on your legs,

you wouldn't necessarily know about it, would you?

No, I find at the end of the evening when I go to bed,

-take my trousers off and I've got blisters everywhere.

-Yeah.

-So that's a bit too late, then.

So we had a cast around to see if we could find anybody who works with leather in the area. And...

-Oh, my gosh!

-..they've made you...

-Look at this.

If you put this on your lap, this is a really,

really clever heat resistant pad.

Can I actually put things on there?

-Yes.

-Serious?

-You can put hot things on there and it won't do any damage.

That's amazing!

So does this mean with the adjustments that we've made here...

I won't be leaving the place, I'll be cooking in here all day long.

It's just given me everything back again,

all the cupboards I can reach...

Whilst we're here - just reach up to that cupboard...

Can you reach it?

-Oh, look!

-Reach the handle...

-You can pull them out!

Do you know, I've lost my wheelchair - this house takes my wheelchair away from me.

-It does.

-It gives my normality again...

I'm actually Mum.

It's just amazing, I'm just so lucky.

So, we've got a kitchen that you can cook in

and you can get access to everything.

What else though? What was the other difficulty that you had?

Gosh, yeah. Toilet...?

VOICEOVER: And to get up there, the gift that will give Amanda freedom.

-Is that what I think it might be?

-You know what that is...

-Got a lift!

-You've got a lift.

Actually this lift is very, very special to us...

There's a chap called Eric Rivers who suffered with motor neurone disease.

He had this lift for five years,

and, er,

it did amazing things, and it created amazing things in his life.

Being able to spend time with his children...

And he passed away, but his wife Davina then rang us and said

can we give it to somebody who needs it. So...

-Oh, they've given it to us?!

-Mm.

That's so kind.

Right. So...

So we've got some more stuff to show you now.

Oh, I'm going!

I'll see you upstairs, bye!

Oh, wow!

Oh, my gosh.

So, a number of doors around you here.

I know, there's so many doors,

and it's like...it's my house but I don't have a clue what's in it.

It's cool, isn't it? It's really funny. The door...

SHE GASPS

Oh, fantastic!

Look at the colours!

I'm going to cry again.

-Independence!

-Yeah.

No more relying on Vic.

Right. What haven't we shown you so far...?

You need a bedroom.

-A bedroom would be lovely, wouldn't it?

-Yeah?

OK. This one...

Oh...!

-Look at the carpet. Pink carpet.

-Pink carpet!

Oh, look at the headboard.

SHE GASPS

It's just a beautiful little room, it's just... It's a Mandy room.

There's little pom-poms!

-Do you know who made the pom-poms?

-No, who made the pom-poms?

-The girls.

-I love it.

And the girls did these?

-So, have you got everything you need?

-More.

-Does it take the pressure off of you?

-Absolutely it'll take the pressure off of me.

-In all areas?

-In all areas, yeah.

And how does that change YOUR life?

It means I've got my independence back, and my role as mum.

Mummy is what I wanted to be.

And I can be me, we can all be ourselves again.

The children can be children,

Vic can be a husband,

I can be a wife and a mum.

-Listen, we can't get you into the loft...

-No.

-No.

-Obviously.

Can I carry Mandy up there?

-You all right? You're not going to drop me?

-I'll try not to.

-Oh, wow...

-Mind your head.

-Ooh, me head!

SHE GASPS

Wow!

-This is stunning in here.

-It is, isn't it?

Absolutely beautiful.

God, look at Jacob's room, it's very grown-up.

-Oh, my God! He's going to LOVE this.

-It's lovely, isn't it?

VOICEOVER: Time to show the kids...

Welcome home!

Ready, guys? This is our new... kitchen!

-Oh, my...!

-THEY ALL LAUGH EXCITEDLY

-Bye!

-Bye. I'm going up...

Really overwhelmed.

Because I can't believe this is our house.

And everything is just all accessible for her.

-SHE SNIFFS AND SOBS

-She can be a mum again.

So amazing, and the fact that people have done this for my mum is brilliant.

Here we go...

Look - bed by the window.

It's so nice.

-I like your pillows and stuff.

-Love it.

It's SO my bedroom.

I love you.

-Mwah!

-Love it. Thank you so much.

Beautiful, isn't it? He loves it.

-SHE GASPS

-Oh, my God.

My God, I love it. I love it so much.

I literally didn't expect this, at all. I'm so happy with it.

Thank you so much, thank you so much.

-We'll cry again if we have a hug!

-I know.

Love you so much. So proud of you.

Oh, wow...

What do you think?

Oh, this is so cool.

Amazing. It's crazy.

-Very nice.

-It's crazy.

-It is.

-VIC LAUGHS

Oh, my God, it's amazing!

Oh, my gosh. I love it.

It's perfect. And I've got a desk to study!

-Oh, I never had a desk before.

-Yeah.

What do you make of the house, then? Happy?

Happy beyond words.

-Is it going to work for you all? ALL:

-Yeah.

-Certainly is.

-Like to meet some of the people that have done this?

-Definitely.

APPLAUSE

It's not often that I get stuck for words...

but it might be a moment.

We've just come from

the most beautiful, beautiful home,

above and beyond anything we could have imagined.

But most importantly

all I wanted to be when I had my accident was a mum again.

And although the doctors mended me physically,

and mended all my broken bones...

with everything YOU'VE done

you've mended my heart. Because you've given me my mum duties back again.

You've given ALL of our lives back, though, really.

We can all do our proper roles within the house.

So it means so, so much to all of us.

It's incredible. And there's no way we can thank all of you enough

-for what you've done for us.

-Yeah, thank you.

You know, Amanda was determined from the very start -

in fact the evening of her injury -

to let the world know that she was not going to be defined

by her disability. In fact, she goes out into schools and workplaces

and gives lectures on the fact that there IS life after serious injury.

And the medical staff did an amazing job of saving her life and getting her home,

but she couldn't BE a mum - only these people could do that.

And if you're looking for a reason to give your time, volunteering,

what better reason than to make a mum...a mum again?

You know, we can't help everyone - but everyone can help someone.