Man, 46, left waiting years for house after horror stroke - so his family decide to build their own

The family of a man left disabled after suffering a stroke say they've been left blown away by people's kindness after deciding to build a specially adapted house for him to live in.

Gary Crutchley, 46, suffered a sudden stroke while working out at home in October 2020 which left the dad-of-one, from Stockport, needing major brain surgery, which saw part of his skull taken out and rebuilt before a two-year hospital stay. Although he has recovered further at the Oakwood Acquired Brain Injury Rehabilitation Service in Offerton, his family say Gary has been left with life-long disabilities and will likely always need carers.

The dad-of-one had recently sold his house but has since been waiting for the past four years on the social housing list. Gary is currently still living in the brain rehab centre but his family have now decided to club together to build him an accessible home.

Gary's parents, Chris, 77, and Susan, 71 - who he had been living with before the stroke - would not be able to look after him and Serene Crutchley, his sister, does not want to move him away from his social network. So Serene offered to build her brother a house about a year ago - by renovating her parents' garage.

Serene, 52, is turning the garage into his new living area with the help of volunteers in the local community. The family have raised £10,000 of the £100,000 needed so far for the project and have just put the roof on the property.

She said: "It's mum and dad's garage but we wanted it to be separate. It's entirely his home. We started building it six months ago."

Serene, an NHS project manager, added: "Family and friends with hard work, fundraising and the help of volunteers are doing our very own DIY SOS. It's been a very emotional