DIY SOS

The Big Build - Eckington (27x7)

: 01, 2017

Nick Knowles, Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen and hundreds of Worcestershire volunteer builders rescue 17-year-old Antonia Payne-Cheney, who has been kept prisoner in hospital for the last three years by Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a debilitating and rare condition. Until 14 she was a healthy girl, enjoying gymnastics and cheerleading, but now she is hospital bed-bound. Her joints regularly dislocate and she is unable to eat normally, so she is fed through a line directly into her heart. As a result of her complex condition, Antonia will remain in hospital until the necessary home adaptations have been made. To give Antonia the freedom to return home, the ambitious DIY SOS build features a functional sterile space for medical procedures in her own bespoke bedroom, a specially adapted wet room that offers her freedom and dignity and an accessible space for her to socialise with family and her friends. As ever, it's an immensely challenging build carried out over the hottest week of the year, so sweat and tears flow in this emotional and entertaining episode.