DIY SOS to help teenage boy finally return home after years in hospital

A severely disabled teenager who has been in hospital for nearly three years “hasn’t stopped smiling” after hearing the BBC’s DIY SOS team are coming to help him move back home, his father said.

Daniel Flemen had a life-saving operation to remove a brain tumour when he was 13, but it left him severely disabled and unable to return home to Freckleton in Lancashire.

DIY SOS host Nick Knowles and his team are aiming to make the adaptations at the family’s property so Daniel can return.

His father Nigel Flemen said welcoming his son home would “mean the world because we’ve been so fractured for so long”.

Daniel went to the doctor in October 2022 with flu-like symptoms and a sore throat, and he was later sent to Blackpool Victoria Hospital for tests, including a CT scan.

The family were told Daniel had a mass on his brain that was probably a tumour, a diagnosis that was later confirmed at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

He had a stroke during a 12-hour emergency operation to save his life, which left him unresponsive and in intensive care for three months.

Daniel, now 16, is currently on a respiratory ward at the Manchester hospital as he requires non-invasive ventilation at night.

Mr Flemen said he and his wife Julie had been “living separate lives” for the past three years as he works while she goes to see their son.

He told BBC Radio Lancashire: “The travelling to and from Manchester – 50-odd miles each way every week, several times a week – it takes a toll on you.”

Daniel, who needs hoists and help with all aspects of his personal care, and is fed via a naso-gastric tube, has been making small improvements in recent months.

DIY SOS is a long-running TV series that features a team of builders and volunteers coming together to help families in need by renovating their homes.

Mr Flemen said the DIY SOS team would have a “huge job” converting the house for his return.

He said: “Extensions are required, more accommodation for the family, landscaping to make the drive, the front and the rear of the house accessible.

“These are all things that you never really think about until you’ve got a wheelchair and a member of the family in that position who needs that additional space and help.”

Mr Flemen said his son had “started to move his arm and he’s been playing Connect Four very badly”.

“And he’s now started to say the odd word. The first words he said to his mum were ‘I love you’.”