Answering the DIY SOS call

Amanda Worne, who lost the use of her legs in a cycling accident, lives with her husband and four children.

Brothers-in-law Paul Harrison and Mark Morley, of Spray Render UK, were part of an army of 300 volunteers who joined Nick Knowles and his team for an episode of DIY SOS. Although the work was done in June, the episode will not be broadcast until tomorrow evening.

The huge community effort saw the family of six’s cramped Yapton property transformed into a home fit for her family.

Paul and Mark were called upon to render the outside of the house’s new porch.

Paul told the Crawley Observer that they saw the call for volunteers on Facebook and offered their services, never expecting to hear anything back.

“I put our names down for it and, out of the blue one weekend, we got a call,” he said.

“We were only there for two days - we did their porch for them, it was a good laugh.”

Paul and Mark were on site to see the whole project completed and presented to the Worne family, but many of the workers will only see the finished result when the programme airs this week.

Paul said they would be watching the show.

“We might only be in it for a couple of minutes,” he said, “but it was worth it.”

Amanda Worne suffered the cycling accident in August 2015 while she was in training for an Ironman endurance event. The crash, on Bury Hill, severed her spine and left her paralysed from the waist down.

Amanda refused to allow the life-changing injury to get her down and continued to lead an active life - completing Parkruns and the Great South Run in her wheelchair, and even taking on a tandem skydive to mark the first anniversary of her accident.

She now works part time at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where she was treated for six months following the accident.

Amanda has published a book, ‘The Sky Is Not The Limit’ under her maiden name of Amanda Newton, about her life during the first year after her accident.

The episode featuring Amanda is due to air at 8pm on January 4 on BBC1.

__

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.

1) Make our website your homepage at www.crawleyobserver.co.uk

2) Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/crawleyobserver

3) Follow us on Twitter @Crawley_Obby

4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!

The Crawley Observer - always the first with your local news.

Be part of it.