Nick Knowles and the DIY SOS team return, and this time they head to Bangor in Co Down to help disabled Mandy McCreight.
Mandy is isolated in her bedroom due to a variety of medical issues and is devastated to be missing out on family life. Her children Ben and Kara also have mobility problems, while husband Davey looks after everyone – but now he is suffering from a back injury.
The entire family are under real stress and the house is not wheelchair friendly, making the situation unbearable… DIY SOS come to the rescue, with amazing results.
It’s a particularly emotional episode, as – for the first time ever – the DIY SOS team head to Bangor in Northern Ireland. Of course, fans will know it’s the childhood hometown of build manager Mark Millar…
He has described the Bangor DIY SOS project as the “proudest moment” of his building career.
DIY SOS: The Big Build in Bangor
The popular BBC One series visits the McCreight family in Bangor in Northern Ireland. Mum Mandy McCreight suffers from a variety of medical issues, including Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, postural orthostic tachycardia syndrome, fibromyalgia and gastroparesis.
These problems leave her bed-bound over 80 per cent of the time. She often stays upstairs in her bedroom for days at a time, as the stairs are too difficult to negotiate.
Sadly, she is isolated in her bedroom and missing out on family life. Son and daughter Ben, 16, and Kara, 13, also suffer from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and have mobility issues.
Meanwhile, dad Davey, 57, looks after everyone – but now he is suffering from a back injury. The entire family are under real stress, and the house is not wheelchair friendly, making the situation unbearable.
The DIY SOS team, aided by local designer Suzanne Sundara-Garuda and hundreds of volunteers, reconfigure the whole house in just nine days. They create a future-proof home that will bring this family back together.
Mandy McCreight on DIY SOS
Mum-of-two Mandy admits her “biggest fear” is that “I’m going to spend the rest of my life trapped in this bedroom”. The episode, filmed in the summer of 2019, shows disabled Mandy relying on her powerchair – or electric wheelchair.
However, the house was impossible for her to navigate, meaning she was left “completely isolated”. She said she’d “completely lost hope” before DIY SOS came to the rescue.
Meanwhile, son Ben has a learning disability, autism and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. He doesn’t like to visit his mum in her bedroom, so they rarely get to spend any time together, so he spends all his time at home downstairs with his dad.
Daughter Kara, who also has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, has mobility issues, and chronic fatigue. She finds the house difficult to negotiate and she spends a lot time in her room.
Mum Mandy explains: “Every avenue I’d went down to try and get our housing problems rectified, I just kept hitting brick wall after brick wall. I can’t manage the stairs, so the easiest thing for me to do was once I got up those stairs I just stayed there until I had to come back down them again, which meant I’d be staying up in my bedroom for weeks on end until I had to leave the house.
“The main problem was I wasn’t being a very good mum when I wasn’t with them.”
What did the building team do in Bangor?
The DIY SOS crew set about reconfiguring the house’s layout, with appropriate disabled-friendly bedrooms, and a wet-room that has direct access for carers.
Doors were widened and a new lift installed to access upstairs. The kitchen was also redesigned to give the family more space and allow Ben the change to pursue his desire to learn catering, while also facilitating the one-to-one supervision he needs.
Access to the garden was also provided for the whole family.
After the life-changing redevelopment, 46-year-old Mandy admits: “Not only can I now access the whole house, the house is just absolutely stunning, it’s a pleasure to live here.
“The Bangor Big Build was a huge success because it changed my family’s life overnight, we’ll be thankful for the rest of our lives.”
DIY SOS: The Big Build visits Bangor on Monday, July 10, 2023 at 9pm on BBC One.
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