Devon-based internet company Doorstuff is helping BBC’s DIY SOS by supplying a vital component (a pocket door) for a heartmoving housebuild in April that will allow a mother to care for her teenage son at home. It is to be one of DIY SOS’s biggest projects to date.
Since being given just a one per cent chance of survival following a horrific brain injury in last March in a rugby game, Jay Ryles-Jenkins, 17, has been in a coma at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol and his mum, Sue Jenkins of Chippenham, would dearly love to take care of him at home. BBC1’s DIY SOS team has answered appeals from the family for help and is to build a downstairs bedroom and wet room allowing the space and facilities to meet his round-the-clock care needs. Doorstuff.co.uk is supplying the space saving pocket door system that can allow this to happen in the small room available.
A pocket door is a system to slide a normal door in and out of a cavity in stud walling. It can be incorporated into bathrooms, kitchens, utility rooms – anywhere space is at a premium. It is a straightforward structure to build, the “Hideaway” kit starts at around £130 and can be purchased at Doorstuff’s store in Newton Abbot or on its website.
http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/headlines/4891306.Help_me_get_my_son_home_to_Chippenham/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/wiltshire/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8569000/8569801.stm
Story Updates, 15 November 2010:
Jay has been making good progress over the months, and today his mum has announced she expects him to come home from Frenchay Hospital in the coming weeks. She added: “Next week the doctors will be interviewing three nursing agencies and once they have been chosen he should be able to come home.” This is great news Jay!
Story Updates, 22 January 2011:
Watch DIY SOS: The Big Build this Wednesday 26 January, 20:00 on BBC One, for Jay’s story.