Volunteers transform garden for severely disabled boy

Max Hayden, who is 11, suffers from global development delay and epilepsy which triggers intense seizures.

He requires a hoist for transfers and needs support from adults for all of his personal care needs.

Max, a pupil at Melton’s Birch Wood Area Special School, is registered blind and is reliant on a specialist walking frame or wheelchair for outdoor mobility.

It has been tricky and unsafe for him to go in the garden unsupervised at his family’s Jubilee Avenue home because it has uneven, bumpy ground.

When the charity WellChild heard about the issues Max and his family were facing they decided to help in ‘DIY SOS’ style.

They enlisted a team of volunteers from British Gas, which has a link with the cause, to give the garden a complete makeover.

Starting on Thursday, they battled through rainy weather to install artificial grass to make the area more accessible to Max and remove the risk of him tripping, and a sensory zone with lights, music and textures to provide him stimulation and a place to relax in a safe and secure way.

Max’s parents, Rob and Steph, can’t wait for their son to see the new garden for the first time when it is completed soon.

Steph told the Melton Times: “Max will absolutely love the new garden when it is finished.

"We just don’t have the time to be able to make it safe ourselves so we are unable to let him be outside without supervision.

"He will now have the freedom to move around and explore safely.

"We are so grateful to the charity for making this happen because we couldn’t afford to do this as landscaping is so expensive.”

The couple, who also have an eight-year-old son, Leo, will get valuable respite from having the changes made to their garden.

Rob explained: “Max is in a wheelchair most of the time although he is able to bumshuffle along.

"The worry with that outside is that he eats things like grass and likes to put things in his mouth which is obviously a risk outside.

"Having artificial grass and a level surface will make it so much more safer for him.”

Steph added: “It will allow us to relax and it will be lovely to see him out there in a garden that is safe.”

The Asfordby project is one of a number carried out every year by WellChild, the UK’s national charity for seriously ill children and their families.

Project manager, Roger Merritt, told the Melton Times: “We open up applications to families every October and this year we’ve worked on 10.

"It’s absolutely fantastic to see the reaction when we reveal what we’ve done and we are really pleased to be able to help Max and his family.

"The weather hasn’t been great but we managed to dig the garden on the Thursday ready for the aesthetic work to be done.”

Click HERE to pledge money to WellChild, which is wholly reliant on the support of individuals and organisations for funding.