A TEN-YEAR-OLD quad amputee has thanked a team of volunteer tradespeople who have made significant adaptations to his home in Embsay, North Yorkshire.

Luke Mortimer recently appeared on ITV’s This Morning to tell hosts Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond all about the project and to say thank you to the 12-strong team from construction charity Band of Builders (BoB) who have helped to make his home life easier.

He said: “I would like to thank the BoB team for making my life so much easier around my home.

“I can remember that when they first came the house looked like a wreck, but then within a few weeks, it looked like a dream home that you only see on TV and I still can’t thank them enough.”

Picture credit: This Morning

Home Adaptations

Luke’s dad Adam is a builder and had started work on making adaptations himself before reaching out to Band of Builders for help.

The bungalow had previously been adapted for a man who was paralysed. However, since his passing, some of the adaptations had been ripped out. The BoB team stepped in to help Adam renovate the property and reinstate some of the original adaptations.

Work included putting in a new shower room with easy-to-use fittings, installing underfloor heating, lowering the ceilings, insulating the house and fitting new wooden flooring, as Luke and his older brother Harry spend a lot of time on the floor.

The bulk of the work on the project took place at the end of June – with the final touches completed after a new kitchen was installed, ready for the handover on Sunday 3 September.

Band of Builders Operations Director, Tony Steel, said: “The look on Luke’s face made it all worthwhile. Luke is an inspiration to us all, and it has been our pleasure to help his dad complete the renovations to the home – and therefore make the quality of Luke’s home life just that bit better.”

Another Milestone for Luke

The completion of this project is yet another milestone in Luke’s remarkable story, which started when he lost his arms and legs after he contracted meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia in December 2019.

After the removal of his limbs, Luke underwent many more surgeries to cover what had survived with a covering of skin; 50% of his body had no skin, so the remaining 50% had to be donor skin. To get him healed and to minimise infection, he went to theatre Monday, Wednesday and Friday to have painful skin grafts and dressing changes. In-between these surgeries, there was physio, psychological therapy, occupational therapy, and lots and lots of doctors and consultants prodding, poking and checking. Luke had 23 surgeries over a ten-week period.

He spent nearly five months in hospital before he was able to go home.

Since then, he has endured endless sessions of physiotherapy and rehabilitation with a beaming smile. He has learned to walk – and run – on prosthetics. And, thanks to fundraising and donations from an army of well-wishers, he has received the first of his robotic ‘hero’ arms to allow him to do more for himself. The cost is approaching £15,000, and they have to be replaced every two years while Luke is still growing.

Luke’s family say they have been overwhelmed by the support and all the different fundraising activities that continue to take place for Luke.

>> Read about more BoB projects here

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