CARING builders sprang into action to help a former colleague and his family after he was struck down by a rare autoimmune disorder.
In a DIY SOS-style operation, groundworkers, joiners, plumbers, plasterers, window companies, electricians, painters and tilers all came together to create a disabled friendly space at the family’s home in Glazebury, near Warrington.
Geoff Daintith, 54, contracted Guillain-Barré Syndrome in October 2015, after suffering from a common cold.
Guillain-Barré is a rare auto-immune disorder and occurs when the body’s immune system attacks part of the nervous system. Whilst the illness is relatively rare, it can affect anyone, often starting following a bout of flu, virus or stomach upset. Geoff’s illness started after a common cold and such was the seriousness of his condition, within 48 hours of contracting it, he was placed in an induced coma for several weeks. Susan and Geoff have been told by several doctors that it is the worst case they have seen where the patient has survived.
After 10 months in intensive care – only able to blink his eyes, breathing through a ventilator and fed through a tube – he was moved to a specialist ward at Aintree Hospital and, later, to a specialist rehabilitation unit in Liverpool, where he remains.
The groundworker and boss of Dainsmith Ltd is still confined to a wheelchair and requires specialist physio almost daily to aid his slow but continuing improvement.
When Redrow Homes construction director Keith Collard and area construction manager Shaun Phoenix heard that even a visit home was impossible for Geoff because he couldn’t get through a door, let alone upstairs to use the bathroom, they knew exactly what to do.
Keith explained: “Up until three years ago, Geoff had worked for Redrow for over 25 years following on in the family groundworks business his father started before him. Geoff and his team have helped our site teams with remedial groundworks, laying land drains and undertaking other site work, as well as clearing ditches, filling site salt buckets in the winter and litter picks, to name but a few of the many onerous jobs that help in the completion of our housing sites.”
On discovering that Geoff was now unable to spend much-needed rest and recovery time at home with his family, Keith approached a number of other sub-contractors, who’d all worked alongside him, to ask for their assistance.
“They were all were only too happy to help an old friend,” said Keith.
Project managed by Rob Joyce of RS Joinery, the group, which included representatives of WPI, Prestige Plumbing, Wissink Construction, MP Carroll Ltd, RWW Plastering, WS Electrics, SG Windows, SE Painting, Halls Tiles, Redrow site manager Danny Tyrer (previously a time-served tiler) and Redrow area construction manager Shaun Phoenix,worked together to convert Geoff’s garage. They fitted wheelchair friendly ramps, widened doors, installed a full wet room and made other modifications to help him to continue his rehabilitation and be with his family.
Rob Joyce has calculated that the approximate cost of all the work would have been around £18,000 once materials, skips, deliveries, etc, were factored in, but Geoff’s wife Susan thinks it would have been far greater.
“I can’t thank Redrow and its contractors enough,” said Susan. “When we got a quote from the local authority to install ramps to either the front or back of the house – not both – the cost for that alone was going to be £1,700. What this team has achieved over a few months has made life so much better for us. We’re so grateful.
“Because Geoff is self-employed and still classed as a hospital inpatient, and I am working, we get no financial support at all; we are totally reliant on the kindness of other people and voluntary fundraising to pay for help, support and some of the specialist care that Geoff will need on an ongoing basis. He’s had to buy his own electric wheelchair and mobility van.”
With work on the converted garage complete, Geoff is now able to spend several afternoons a week at home with Susan and their two grown-up sons, Greg and Bradley. He can also stay overnight at weekends, but needs to return to his specialist rehabilitation unit for physio.
Fundraising and events organised by family and friends are ongoing to raise money to put a care package in place that will allow Geoff to come home permanently and pay for intensive physiotherapy to aid his rehabilitation. Prior to modifying his home, Redrow Lancashire’s site managers, sub-contractors and their teams collected more than £2,000 to help the family.
Anyone wishing to support Geoff’s recovery can donate here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/geoffdaintith
