The Manx community are being urged to help renovate a home so it can accommodate a teenager who suffered severe head injuries in a car crash last year.

Lockie Kirk was airlifted to Aintree Hospital for serious treatment following the incident, which took place near the Switchback in January 2022.

The 19-year-old was left in a vegetative state due to the severity of his injuries.

Since then however, Lockie has managed to regain consciousness and is currently living at a specialist rehabilitation centre in Liverpool.

His friends and relatives are now hoping the community can lend their support and help bring Lockie back home to the Isle of Man on a permanent basis.

Plans are underway to transform the family home in Knocksharry, dubbed ‘Ballalockie’, which would see an extension built on the property so that Lockie can live with his family and receive the care that he needs.

Lockie’s family say they have been inundated with messages of support from both individuals and local businesses wanting to help their plight - including C B Plastering, Spectrum Windows Isle of Man and Verean Tiling.

A meeting between local tradespeople and willing volunteers was set to take place last week to discuss ideas for the ‘Ballalockie’ development.

However, that now has been postponed after a planning a application hit a snag, with the family saying initial plans had been ‘knocked back’.

The plans were originally submitted in July, but the family say they have only recently heard back from the government on the planning issues.

A spokesman for the family said they are now hopeful they can work with the planning department on the issues to ‘get BallaLockie moving’.

However, the spokesman said that the ‘government are going to have to find accommodation (for Lockie) whilst we sort this out,’ if the planning issues persist.

The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture were not able to provide a comment on the planning situation by the time the Examiner went to press.

When news of Lockie’s crash and injuries originally hit the island, an online fundraising page was launched by Melissa Menton, a friend of the family.

That fundraiser initially raised a staggering £11,000 in just 24 hours.

The figure has now risen to £35,565 with the money going towards helping to support the family to pay for travel costs, bills and other expenses that they have to pay for while Lockie is away from home.

The Kirk family includes Lockie’s parents, Lauren and Dan, and siblings Harrison, Doona, Loghlin (Lockie) and Torin.

However it’s not just the family that are doing their bit to help bring Lockie home.

One of Lockie’s closest mates, Ryan ‘Kibby Lad’ Kavanagh, took part in the Tough Mucka challenge at the start of this month to raise money to fund the plans for the house extension. He overcame obstacles and beat the 10k course all to support his close mate, something he was determined to do to for his ‘amazing, funny, little crazy friend’.

The family explained how grateful they are to the Isle of Man community for rallying together during their time in need.

They also said they were desparate to get Lockie back home on a permanent basis.

A spokesman for the family said: ‘Lockie is doing incredibly well given the seriousness of his injuries and we can’t wait to get him home. ‘We have been overwhelmed with the support from the Manx community, and are truly grateful for any offers of help big or small.

‘We are still in talks with planning, they have not refused our plans but want us to make some changes, we’re hoping this setback can be resolved quickly and we can get on with getting prepared for Lockie’s return home.’

Those looking to support the extension plans are encouraged to get in touch via the organisation’s Facebook page by searching BallaLockie, or alternatively donate to the GoFundMe : www.gofundme.com/help-lockie-and-his-family.