Operation Derrick

Derrick “Quicee” Aiken is a 29 year old male, who has been blind from birth and has Cerebral Palsy. Quicee lives in a one story home with his mother, brother, and sister. Although he is able to use forearm crutches to move around, the current bathroom is much too narrow and Quicee is constantly bumping into the sink, which sticks out far from the wall. He also needs assistance getting into and out of the bath tub. This coupled with the fact that he will eventually be confined to a wheel chair has made it necessary to remodel the bathroom to make it ADA compliant complete with a wheelchair accessible shower.

Unfortunately, Quicee’s mom, Angela, has health issues of her own and is unable to work. She has been struggling with a tumor on her liver for more than 10 yrs now. Although it is benign, it has now grown to three quarters the size of her liver and is exerting pressure on her other internal organs. She is nauseated most of the time and has great difficulty sleeping. The doctors tell her that surgery would be too risky. It is becoming more and more difficult for her to lift Quicee out of the bath tub. She has been trying for the eight years she has owned this home to get assistance from the Greenville County Disabilities and Special Needs Board. Finally, they have approved her for a $7500 grant to get the work done. Unfortunately, no for-profit contractor will touch the job for that money. That’s where MSN comes in. We are teaming up with Diligent Hands, Gracious Hearts to provide volunteer labor to give Quicee and Angela the ADA bathroom they have been dreaming of and need so badly.

PROJECT DETAILS

March 12, 2012

Wow, what a week!

Thanks to lots of good help Derrick (Quicee) is well on his way to having a nice big ADA bathroom. Tuesday was spent tearing out the existing bathroom, closet and laundry room. The remainder of the week we were able to rebuild the floor, walls and ceiling. The sheetrock finisher worked Saturday and will complete his job today.

March 19, 2012

The Shower Is In The House!

Thanks to lots of help from Mike Cornish, Danny Thompson, Bob Carlyle, Dick Sargent, Glen Boulton and Les Pritchard we were able to paint the ceiling and walls, finish the electrical, install the floor covering, install vanity and commode, replace the window, paint and install base mold and door trim. Basically, we got as far as we could without the shower, which we thought would be here in a couple of weeks. SURPRISE! It actually showed up on Monday and was delivered today! With the help of Mike Cornish and a couple of Angela’s friends we were able to place it safely into the bathroom.

Now, for the rest of the story…We will need help completing the job. That will include: framing the plumbing wall, installing the shower, hanging and finishing sheetrock, painting, installing molding and trim and replacing siding. That’s all! In order to do this we are scheduling work days for next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, March 28 – 30.

April 4, 2012

Job Completed!

As the below pictures indicate, Derrick’s world is a lot safer and convenient now that the ADA compliant bathroom complete with roll in shower is finished. I got a message from Angela this morning that Quicee had taken his first shower and what a blessing it was to get him in and out of the “tub” without hurting herself or him. To say the least they both are thrilled. Thank you for your prayers and assistance.

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