Joanna and Chip Gaines of HGTV’s Fixer Upper are coming to the aid of Waco firefighter Garth Goodwin. Fox News reports that, in addition to being a firefighter in his community, the man helps create the panels for which the Gaines have become known for. He became paralyzed in an accident that occurred just hours after working on one.
If you haven’t seen the show, the panels depict a life-sized version of the outside of Joanna and Chip’s clients’ home before the couple works their magic. It’s in two sections and set on wheels in front of the project home. Fixer Upper features a big reveal in which the two sections are pulled apart to show the Gaines’ client their new and improved home. Goodwin is one of the people who helps create these panels.
On May 10, Goodwin had left work on one of these panels to go work on a billboard. It was while he was working on this billboard that he became paralyzed. Garth’s tools touched an exposed electrical wire, and he went flying 12 to 13 feet into the air. He lay on the ground for an hour and a half before he was discovered. The accident left him paralyzed from the waist down.
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Goodwin’s firefighter friends pulled together to build a wheelchair-accessible house for him, and Joanna and Chip filled in the last missing piece. The group first reached out to Waco contractor Wes Waller of UBI Products for assistance. He, in turn, reached out to people in the community to make it happen. Within a week, 80 percent of the required materials had been donated. The Gaines provided the last item that was needed for the project when they agreed to donate the lumber that will cost about $20,000.
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In a statement to Fox News , Waller said that, while the donation from Joanna and Chip Gaines is huge, it was one of many donations that will allow him and his team to do this.
“I know Chip and Joanna, they’re huge, and they did connect the last dot, but none of these dots would be connected without the great people from central Texas. If anything, this would not be happening if the firefighters wouldn’t have called and asked, ‘What can we do to build a house?’”
They hope to have the home built and the family moved in by Thanksgiving.
Garth has a 19-year-old son who was born without part of his brain and requires around-the-clock care. A GoFundMe fundraiser has been created to help cover the family’s medical and other expenses.
[Featured Image by HGTV]
