A Montrose father has been spending every spare waking hour working on a major redevelopment of the family bungalow to make it suitable for his severely disabled son.
Gary Allan has been working for the last eight months remodelling the Redfield Crescent house for son Rhys.
The three-year-old has cerebral palsy and has been the focus for a major community fund-raising effort that has brought in tens of thousands of pounds to help make his life easier.
He went to Germany last autumn to have stem cell treatment, which Gary said has led to improvements in his son’s mobility. He hopes to return this year for further treatment, which involves the removal of bone marrow from Rhys’ hip and extracting the stem cells before implanting them where needed.
“It can take up to six months to see the full effect but we are already seeing improvements in him since the last visit,” said Gary.
Rhys also has the benefit of private physiotherapy from a London-based specialist, who visits the family three times a year and gives intensive physiotherapy.
“It costs about £1000 a trip,” said Gary. “He comes up for 10 days and works with Rhys for two and a half hours a day. There’s no playing. It’s very intense.”StretchingGary and his wife Penny carry on the exercises with Rhys between visits, doing half an hour each morning before he heads off to spend the day with his little friends at Rompers nursery, and doing another half hour of stretching every evening.
The family have also just returned from the Craighalbert Centre in Cumbernauld, where they spent four days getting more specialist help. That also costs about £1000 a trip and is repeated three times a year.
Joiner Gary, who works in Aberdeen, is one of his son’s most committed fund-raisers. Last year he completed a sponsored bike ride that raised £7500 but this summer he plans a really exceptional challenge and has inspired some friends to tag along, including another father of a boy with cerebral palsy.
Montrose man Dale Murray, father of Riley (6), will take on a three-day challenge which will see the team cycle the 144 miles from Montrose to the foot of Ben Nevis, then climb the mountain.
“I’ve done cycling but not done the climbing bit before,” said Gary. “Because I’d done cycling last year, we had to do something bigger.”
The Allans are about to launch a new website which will keep people up to date with Rhys’ progress and the fund-raising efforts. It will also include a new justgiving page that will allow supporters to make donations.WorkIn the meantime, Gary will continue leaving for work at 6.45am and coming home at night and working till late to get his house finished. The home now has an adapted bathroom with a wheelchair access shower cabinet and a spacious room that houses all Rhys’ special equipment.
He can do his exercises in the room and play with his little brother Max, who is 15 months old. A kitchen and family room has also been built, along with an additional bedroom.
“The house is nearly finished,” said Gary. “Then we are looking to get a sensory garden and lay soft play slabs.
“This is all being done for Rhys. He is only away to turn four but it is for his future, so he can hopefully get around the house himself.”
While Rhys is clearly his father’s inspiration to work hard, there is another one.
“If I didn’t crack on evenings and weekends, I’d still be doing the house in 2020!” he joked.