A CORK man, who hasn’t been able to return to his family home in almost a year, said he is hopeful that a major project to rebuild the home he grew up in will mean he can finally get back to the community which has rallied around to support him.

23-year-old Adam Drummond from Blackpool, who is a member of Neptune Basketball Club, is an accomplished basketball player and represented his country in various grades as well as playing college basketball in the United States.

The Cork man suffered serious injuries after he fell from a height last May and he was told he had a 1% chance of walking again.

Over the last number of months, Adam has been adjusting to using a wheelchair.

He and his family moved to a family friend’s ground floor apartment as their home was unsuitable for Adam.

That is hopefully, however, about to change.

DIY SOS, The Big Build, Ireland has announced plans to come to Cork to rebuild the home of Adam and his parents Mar and Brian in May so that Adam can once again live in his family home.

Outlining the plans on social media, the DIY SOS team said that they are hoping to provide Adam with the positive and productive environment he needs for his ongoing rehabilitation as well as his future as an independent young adult.

The team are now appealing to people across Cork to get involved in the project.

They are looking for groundworkers, ticketed machine drivers, carpenters, general labourers, plumbers, electricians, slabbers, block layers, painters, plasterers, joiners, pavers, landscapers, tilers, catering, cleaning and registration volunteers as well as local companies who can assist them by supplying goods and materials for external works.

They are also looking for catering companies or local restaurants to provide breakfast rolls, lunches, dinners and snacks to fuel the 80 or so hardworking team members expected on site every day, as well as people who can assist with site support and design interiors and exteriors.

Speaking to The Echo, Adam said that he cannot wait to get back home.

“I haven’t been home since my accident - it’s going to go past twelve months by the time I get back in. We’re in a family friends’ apartment in Blackrock – a ground-floor apartment. We are very grateful for it, but absolutely over the moon to get back to the house – there’s no place like home really.

“Something like this really does bring the community together – more than anything.

“The northside is a special place, I’ve grown up there my whole life and at the moment we are in the southside – there’s nothing wrong with that, but home is home, and your community – you can never take that out of you,” he said.

Adam’s recovery is going well and the Cork man said he hopes that the move home will help him to gain more independence.

“You have your bad days, but I think it comes with anything, being in a wheelchair or not. You are going to have your bad days, but I have way more good days than bad days. It’s a process. Everything is a process.

“I think I am on the better side of things now to be honest. All my friends, everyone has been great, they are checking in on me every day. I’m in college full time now out in MTU and all my classmates are all brilliant- they all give me a hand whenever I need it.

“This is the next step to becoming more independent – I am more or less independent now at the moment which is brilliant, which I would have never thought when all this happened – it seemed like absolutely not a chance that would happen. But I am on the better side of things now,” he said.

To get involved in the DIY SOS, The Big Build project contact diysoscork@gmail.com or call 083 013 9827.