House-builder Dandara has pledged its support to help renovate a property so a Manx teenager with life-changing injuries can return home.
Nineteen year-old Lockie Kirk sustained severe injuries in a car crash just minutes from his home on the outskirts of Peel in January 2022.
He was airlifted to Aintree Hospital in Liverpool for treatment, before being transferred to the Walton Centre where he was diagnosed as being in a vegetative state.
The accident left him with severe head trauma, brain damage, a complete loss of sight in his left eye and a puncture wound in his right eye. Since then, however, he has defied medical expectations to regain consciousness and has spent the past year at a specialist rehabilitation centre in Liverpool.
His health continues to improve during his recovery, allowing him to return to the island to stay on several occasions.
The ‘Ballalockie’ project, which is the idea of family friend Jonathan Kneen, aims to transform the Kirk family home on the outskirts of Peel (in Knocksharry) so Lockie can return to live with his family and receive the care he requires.
Dandara has donated the roof trusses, underlay and battens for the new extension which forms part of a scheme that will see the ground floor of the family home completely reconfigured and adapted to accommodate Lockie and his wheelchair.
Dandara will also supply all plasterboard and plastering materials for the extension and arrange for the plasterboard to be fitted by a subcontractor.
Jonathan says the family has been inundated with requests from both individuals and local businesses wanting to help.
He said: ‘When Dandara offered to help, it was another milestone for us. This is a 60 square metre extension so is quite the project, but everyone involved is committed to making it happen and it is going very well at the moment.’
‘We are very grateful to Dandara for its invaluable support because, without the backing and generosity of such local companies and the Island community, we simply wouldn’t be in a position to do what we are doing.’
Jonathan, who put the initial design together, says Lockie’s parents, Dan and Lauren, and the wider family, including siblings Harrison, Doona and Torin, continue to be overwhelmed with the support and kind messages they have received.
He said: ‘This is a massive undertaking but everyone involved with the extension has been a dream to work with and, less than three months in, I’m delighted to say we are further ahead than we thought we’d be at this stage. The reward will be getting Lockie home with his family.’
Dandara managing director Austin McGuire added: ‘It has been a real pleasure to offer our support to the ‘Ballalockie’ project which is going to be something really special for a young man who has shown immense courage, determination and resilience, as have his family.’
‘The new extension and other design changes will allow Lockie to be more self-sufficient and, when all the work is completed, enable him to come home to his loved ones.’
Lockie’s dad, Dan Kirk, said: ‘We have been truly humbled by the level of support we’ve received from so many people and organisations in the island.
‘To come home from work and see what is going on has touched us all and we would like to thank each and every one who has been involved, including the team at Dandara, for striving to make life that bit easier for when Lockie returns home.’
The project team is still striving to fund a kitchen and flooring for the scheme and anyone who can help is asked to contact Jonathan via email: [email protected].