AN ECKINGTON teenager who was unable to leave hospital for three years will be shown coming home tonight (Wednesday) during the BBC’s DIY SOS The Big Build.
Local businesses and hundreds of volunteers teamed up with the popular show to take on the challenge of adapting the home of 17-year-old Antonia Payne-Cheney.
Antonia has a rare and debilitating condition known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.
Until she was 14, she was a happy and healthy girl, enjoying gymnastics and cheerleading.
However, the condition has now left her bed bound due to her joints regularly dislocating and being unable to eat normally as she must be fed through a line directly into her bloodstream.
As much as Antonia would love to be back at home with her family, the renovations needed to improve her quality of life were ambitious and costly, meaning Antonia has been unable to leave hospital for the last three years.
As well as enlisting volunteer builders to the project, consideration needed to be given as to how Antonia would be transported from hospital to her newly adapted home.
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome causes Antonia to lose consciousness if she sits or stands, meaning that Antonia needs a specially adapted wheelchair to keep her legs elevated.
Fortunately, Cheltenham based Rapid Response Ambulance services stepped in, bringing Antonia home safely and comfortably.
DIY SOS The Big Build will be shown tonight (Wednesday) at 9pm on BBC One.
