CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- An Air Force veteran paralyzed nearly 50 years ago in an automobile accident received a free home renovation Monday from the Paralyzed Veterans of America and Home Depot. Craig Harvey lost the use of his legs in 1966, shortly after he was discharged from the Air Force. He moved to Richmond after the accident to undergo rehab at McGuire Veterans Hospital.
"When we first built this house I was still fairly young and could muscle my way through things," he said. "But now as I've gotten older I'm not quite nearly as strong as I once was, so it's a little more challenging to get in and out and roll around."
That is why Home Depot donated supplies, tools and volunteers to help update the home and make it wheelchair accessible.
"We're out here trying to do some renovations to make it a little easier and more accessible for him," Home Depot store manager Robert Cash said. "We're going to be tearing out all the carpet that's in the house. We're going to be putting in laminate floors for everything."
In addition to the flooring, volunteers replaced the kitchen counters, repainted parts of the home and improved lighting.
"You see so much bad stuff going on, but there's a lot of good in this world too," Craig's wife Janet said about the effort to improve their home.
"This is really super," Craig added. "We never expected anything like this. It's really great especially this time of year."
