Inside Hotel Chocolat
the DIY SOS team help a football fan who was set upon by a gang after a match…
While DIY SOS is often a bit of a weepy, this week’s show is more tear-jerking than most, as Nick Knowles and his team hope to transform the home – and in doing so, the life – of Simon Dobbin.
Simon, 46, was left unable to walk or talk after an unprovoked attack in Southend, Essex, in March 2015. He’d been supporting his football team, Cambridge United, when he was hit and stamped on repeatedly by a group of thugs while on his way home.
Breaking the news
‘I was visited at work by two police officers, who told me Simon had been beaten up and was on life support,’ says Simon’s wife and full-time carer, Nicole, who lives with Simon and their daughter, Emily, who’s 18. ‘I then had to go home and tell Emily what had happened – that was the hardest thing of all.’
After a year in hospital fighting for his life, Simon returned home to Mildenhall, Suffolk, but it’s been a constant struggle for the family. Simon needs round-the-clock care and has been living in the lounge.
Life-changing results
‘At the moment we’re bathing Simon using a bowl from the kitchen,’ says Nicole. ‘So even a shower will be so beneficial to him.’
Cameras follow the DIY SOS crew and more than 100 volunteers as Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen designs a unique space for
Simon, with a bedroom, physio area, wet room and access to the garden. And there are tears all round when Simon sees his new home for the first time.
‘His whole face lit up,’ says Nicole. ‘It makes life so much easier. We can be a family again, and that means so much to us.’