Accessibility - sponsored by Universal Design Newsletter
New Home for a Decorated Marine
Published Feb 2008 by “Abilities Buzz” E-newsletter
The New York Times reported Sunday, February 10th on Daniel Gilyeat, a decorated marine who served two tours in Iraq, during which he lost most of his left leg when a bomb hit his truck. Not long after, his marriage ended, and he became a single father to four children. He is now struggling to take care of his family in a house that requires him to use a wheelchair, despite his ability to walk with a prosthetic leg. In this two-hour episode Ty Pennington and his team rebuild the Gilyeats' Kansas City, Kan., home while sending the family on vacation to Los Angeles and a surprise concert and meeting with Miley Cyrus.
Diane Carroll, a reporter with The Kansas City Star filed a story the next day about the new home that was revealed. For weeks, Daniel Gilyeat and his four children kept the secrets their new house held. They lived in it, to be sure. But they closed the blinds so those driving down their street couldn't peek inside. And family and friends who visited had to promise they would not talk about what they had seen.
Finally, tonight, the producers of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” allowed the family to open its doors. And television viewers from across the nation saw their fine ranch-style home with the latest decorating ideas from ABC show host Ty Pennington and his crew. Gilyeat and his children were at the Legends 14 in Wyandotte County for the national reveal, along with a theater full of friends, relatives and volunteers. “Holy cow, this is awesome,” Gilyeat said. Gilyeat said before the broadcast that he'd seen only brief portions of the show — re-enactments of scenes where he was wounded — to be certain they were accurate.
Among those attending were other area recipients of home makeovers and Mayor Joe Reardon of Wyandotte County Unified Government. Renee Ayres, who nominated Gilyeat for the makeover, flew in from Texas. Builder Kevin Green said he planned the party at the Legends so “we can bring him home the right way … to laugh and cry together.” Before the show began, Gilyeat greeted guests and shot his own video. He met some volunteers, including Beth Ready of Fulton, whom he'd only heard about from the producers and builder. Ready, in the Air National Guard, was on a drill in St. Joseph when she heard about the show needing volunteers. She planned on taking a couple days of vacation, but spent the whole week helping build Gilyeat's new house.
“I got there, and I knew I wouldn't be able to leave,” Ready said. She said she wanted her son, Joshua, to meet Gilyeat, because of his service and example. Gilyeat said he's grateful for his new house but even more “I'm thankful for every day I have with my kids.” On Friday, he gave a preview tour of his home in Kansas City, Kan. “We feel like the Beverly Hillbillies,” Gilyeat said. “We went from a shack to a mansion. Our house was not that bad before, but this is just phenomenal.”
Gilyeat lost his left leg in an explosion in Iraq in 2005. To help him readjust to life at home, “Extreme Makeover” crews tore down his former house and built him one that's three times larger. It has plenty of room for Alexis, 9, Victoria, 8, Danny, 6 and Nicholas, 4.
The front door opens to a rustic-looking great room with high ceilings and wood beams. It has a massive stone fireplace and the usual granite and stainless steel in the kitchen. But the bedrooms are something you might never see again. The boys, who are crazy about cars and monster trucks, share a bedroom with bunk beds made of car parts. To get in the lower bunk, one has to open the door of a shiny red car. For Nicholas, the horn is the best part, Gilyeat said. “I like getting in the car,” Danny said. Alexis' room looks like a rain forest. A tree trunk travels up the middle of a wall, its branches extending across the ceiling and beyond with vegetation drooping down. A life-like lion sits next to a swing that holds up to 500 pounds. Gilyeat is used to seeing more than one child on it at a time.
Gilyeat's bedroom has an Asian theme and is set up to induce relaxation. Pennington designed it himself, Gilyeat said, and did a wonderful job. The home flows so well that it's difficult to say any one room is better than the next, Gilyeat said. “The best thing I like about it is it's mine,” he said.