TITCHMARSH TAKES ON VALLEYS GARDEN MAKEOVER
THERE were lots of tears when Alan Titchmarsh took on his most difficult garden makeover to date for a Welsh father-of-three who lost his hands and feet to sepsis.
Physiotherapist Chris Garlick had been in the middle of renovating his Pontypool home when he became ill two years ago.
Before Chris’ sepsis attack he’d planned to tackle the garden himself, but it then became an unattainable dream until Alan and the team from ITV’s Love Your Garden stepped in to create a safe, accessible family garden.
Chris’ sister Vanessa Browning described the importance of having a garden area the family could use.
She said: “Being able to get outside in the fresh air, listen to the birds sing and enjoy the sunshine is going to be a big part for him. But mainly to get out and play with the children is a big thing. He feels guilty that he can’t do that, which is really sad.”
Chris told Alan: “I would just like to have somewhere for them to play. We have got this huge space and we are now using it.
“I would love to be outside, but at the moment I am stuck on the patio like Billy No Mates.”
Looking around the garden, which is about a quarter of an acre in size, Alan said he had never seeing anything as “daunting” before, but that he could not let Chris be “Billy No Mates” any more.
He said: “I don’t care what is out there. I don’t care how big it is, I don’t care how overgrown it is and I don’t care how filled with rubbish it is, we will blooming well do this.”
There were piles of rubbish, overgrown shrubs and bushes and a lack of access to the back of the property.
The garden also had a seven metres elevation in parts making it even more difficult.
The plot was the largest back garden the show’s team had ever taken on with the challenge of steep uneven levels and overgrown trees, shrubs and bushes.
But the transformation was unbelievable with a path around it that Chris could use in his wheelchair.
There is also a therapy building for Chris to relax in and palm trees.
Students from Coleg Gwent and other members of the local community helped Alan with what was described as one of his most difficult garden makeovers ever.
At one point Alan said there were 53 people helping out on the last day of the transformation.
Helen Morgan, from Coleg Gwent, said: “Our countryside management learners were delighted to help with this garden transformation for the Love Your Garden show. It was great practical experience for them.”
Chris was left fighting for his life in 2017 after suddenly falling ill with meningitis which led to a septic reaction.
Talking about his illness, Chris told Alan: “I was feeling a bit under the weather. My temperature was up and I was drenched in sweat, but I had no idea what it was. My wife was doing a return to nursing course and two weeks prior to this happening she went on a sepsis course. The only reason I am here is because she recognised that I had about five of the six red flags for sepsis.”
Chris’ body went into septic shock and all his organs had started to shut down. They put him into a coma for two weeks and his wife was told at one point that it was time to say goodbye.
Chris said: “The problem with meningitis is that when your body is in crisis all the blood is diverted away from your peripheral limbs like your arms and legs.
“Your body protects all your vital organs but starves oxygen to your hands and feet. The surgeon was called up from Swansea and we were told that I could keep my hands and feet and it would give me another week to 10 days, or the second choice was to have all my hands and feet removed and I could survive.
“You want to live and all that was racing through my mind was my wife, my children. Everything I was about to lose, but I had a choice to make. A lot of people asked me if it was a difficult choice to make. It was, but you either die, or you have your hands and feet cut off and see how far you get.”
Chris has been determined to turn it into something positive and now gives talks about sepsis and diagnosing it to groups and medical practitioners.
Alan said: “It is hard not to be humbled by this brave family man who despite physical challenges and mental trauma dedicates his time to educating others on this terrible disease. The least we can do is give him back a taste of nature and the outdoor family life he craves.”
Chris was left speechless by the transformation.
He said: “I don’t believe it. This is incredible. I have got this giant space that I can actually use. Just being able to be outside and with a fire. It is such a simple thing but it means so much to me.”