Charity rallies to adapt Woodbridge man's home after aneurysm

A team from charity Band of Builders is modifying his Luke Goold-Hannatt's house so he can return home

Building work has started on a 20-year-old man's home so he can return there more than three years after he suffered a catastrophic brain aneurysm.

Luke Goold-Hannatt, from Woodbridge, Suffolk, was 17 when he suffered an aneurysm known as an arteriovenous malformation in January 2020.

He underwent life-saving surgery and has been left with disabilities that require constant care.

Charity Band of Builders is extending his family's house so he can go home.

The work is to create a wet room and two bedrooms on the ground floor for Mr Goold-Hannatt and a live-in carer.

His parents had been fundraising in a bid to get him home before Christmas, but after Band of Builders stepped in, it is expected he will be living there again in the autumn.

Mr Goold-Hannatt, who was 17 when he had the brain aneurysm, needs round-the-clock care

Mr Goold-Hannatt visited the site as the building work got under way, which was his first time back home for more than two years.

He said it was "unbelievable".

His mum Karen Goold said there were "no words". Her husband David added: "We can't thank Band of Builders enough."

"It's going to be fantastic," he said.

"Without Band of Builders stepping in, it just wouldn't be possible."

The building work is expected to take four weeks

Trainee bricklayer Mr Goold-Hannatt's chances of survival were not good before he underwent the operation at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge to release the pressure to his brain.His mum said he was now able to move one leg and one of his arms, and although he cannot speak, he communicates by blinking and raising his eyebrows, as well as using an alphabet chart to spell out words.

Following the surgery, he was moved back to Ipswich Hospital before being transferred to a rehabilitation centre in Norwich.

From there, he was moved to the Sue Ryder Neurological Care Centre in Ipswich in January last year, where he receives round-the-clock specialist care.

Mr Goold-Hannatt had been training to be a bricklayer before the aneurysm

Band of Builders undertakes projects to help members of the UK construction industry faced with life-changing circumstances.

Plant machinery and materials are donated, it said.

Wayne, from Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk, one of the volunteers, said he wanted to work on the project to "get the family back together".

The building work is expected to take four weeks.