Band of Builders turns amputee Cher Little's house into a home

A woman who lost both her legs to a deadly blood poisoning infection said she could not believe how a band of builders had changed her life.

Cher Little thought she had Covid when she fell ill in October last year.

But she was soon fighting for life with meningococcal septicaemia - and was only given a one-in-five chance of pulling through.

Over 70 people stepped in to rebuild her home in Flintshire, after being left living in just a single room.

"It's just unbelievable. It doesn't even look like my house," said 46-year-old Cher, as she saw the completed work for the first time on Sunday.

"It's fabulous, just fabulous. It's more than what I expected. I couldn't imagine how it was going to be - but this is just amazing."

It has taken volunteers, who were working for charity Band of Builders, 31 days to transform her home in Connah's Quay, Flintshire, where she lives with partner Mark, who is a plasterer by trade.

"She was in a coma for 30-odd days, and then she was in hospital for three months after that," explained Cher's sister Sian Lloyd.

She said doctors were "fighting and fighting" to save her hand and feet from the ravages of the septicaemia poisoning - but in the end, could only save her hands.

"So she lost both her legs beneath the knee in February this year."

It was at the point Sian started fundraising to help improve home life for her sister.

"When she came out of hospital she couldn't get anywhere, she was trapped in her living room," she said.

"There was no privacy - it was a nightmare."

As work began to make some simple modifications to help Cher in her daily life, the builder's charity stepped in to super-charge those plans.

Sian said her sister could "finally get around the house easily, and focus on herself from now on in".

The volunteers have given the home a new enlarged kitchen, a new ground floor extension with a wet room, and a new bedroom for the couple to share - all of which are wheelchair accessible.

The Band of Builders charity was established to help those in the construction industry and their close family when they were in dire need of help on projects such as this.

They said it had been the biggest challenge they had taken on so far, with every single person involved donating their time - and most importantly skills - for free.

"When I originally came and met Cher earlier this year, it was literally: 'What are we getting ourselves into on this one?'," said the charity's operations director Tony Steel.

"We needed 70 volunteers to pull this off, and I have got to say, without them, we just wouldn't have made it - they've been absolutely magnificent."

He also praised the community, who helped every step of the way.

"In Connah's Quay they have been exceptional," he added.

It included one local pub putting up building volunteers, while there were daily donations of food and drink from friends, neighbours and businesses in the area.

"It just shows you what a community is like when they pull together," added Mr Steel.

For Cher, it means much more than just bricks and mortar.

"It's been very difficult - a horrible time - and now you get to look forward," she said.

"The way it was before, with the restrictions around the house, it was physically and mentally difficult - so this is going to be a whole lot better."