DIY SOS Style Makeover for Disabled Young Cardiff Boy

The quality of life of a disabled young boy from Cardiff has been transformed thanks to our intervention, along with a group of hard-working volunteers who have helped renovate his home.

Romeo Hadley, aged four, lost both his legs and nearly lost his life to a rare and often fatal thrombotic disorder. His condition has made it extremely difficult for him to lead a normal life in a home unsuited to his needs.

But our staff, along with numerous local builders and suppliers, have redecorated and renovated parts of the family home.

Romeo was diagnosed with Purpura Fulminans, an often-fatal condition that causes small blood vessels to clot. The symptoms first emerged during a family shopping trip where he complained of leg pain and his parents found purple blotches spreading over his legs. After being rushed to A&E Romeo deteriorated quickly. Despite putting up a fight, both his legs had to be amputated to save his life.

He has since battled through 30 major operations including artificial tissue replacement and skin grafts. Romeo now has to use a wheelchair but it is hoped that he can have prosthetic legs in the future to allow him to fulfil his dreams and ambitions but these are very expensive. Romeo’s journey can be followed on www.gofundme.com/lzphe0 or on Facebook (Brave Romeo).

Romeo’s parents, Jon and Katie, purchased a bungalow last year in order to provide a level access home to enable Romeo to be as independent as possible. However, it needed a lot of costly work. To help the family, Morganstone and a number of volunteers have carried out renovations inside the home free of charge.

The work included: making good previous renovation works, raising the kitchen floor to create a level floor; fitting a kitchen including electrics, plumbing, carpentry, painting and tiling; replacing a kitchen window, replacing a window with a French door and creating ramped access to enable Romeo to access the garden independently.

One of our Project Managers, Ken Evans, said:

“We were working on the Royal Hamadryad Hospital development for CCHA which is not far away from Romeo’s home.  When we heard about Romeo we really wanted to help. Hopefully now Romeo and his family will be able to settle into their new home they have wanted to create for a while. We have been so overwhelmed by the number of businesses that have offered to help or donate items to enable us to be able to help Romeo and his family. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the below suppliers and for their invaluable support to complete this amazing project: ISTL Engineering, Advanced Carpentry Solutions, J and B Plastering Albe Flooring, Global UPVC, Glevum UPVC, Plant Supply UK and Premier Plant.