Paralyzed veteran in Colorado Springs receives home makeover

It was a special moment for a U.S. Army Veteran who served for 14 years as the Home Depot Foundation partnered with Purple Heart Homes to transform her home.

Audrey Bocock spent a portion of her time in the Army serving in Afghanistan, but an injury during the war has left her in a wheelchair.

“So I’m homebound, my world is pretty small,” said Bocock.

Bocock suffered permanent injuries to the left side of her body along with a traumatic brain injury.

“Resulting things from the war, not just from being in a wheelchair, I have issues from a head injury, I’ve had a few strokes, deal with seizures, been diagnosed with lupus because of the agent orange on the equipment that we were issued,” Bocock said.

Now, more than 40 volunteers from the Home Depot Foundation and Purple Heart Homes have teamed up to complete various home improvement projects. These projects will make Bocock’s home more accessible and support her overall wellbeing.

Mike Nicholls, who is the manager of the Home Depot on Academy and Woodmen and is leading the renovations, said, “Unfortunately Audrey was paralyzed in the line of duty, she had a fairly steep slope in her backyard, we had an excavating group come out and flatten that out and then we are going to be doing some things like building a retaining wall and in the spring we will be planting trees and laying sod and we are also building a wheelchair ramp for her to have access to her shed.”

Bocock says she’s extremely excited to be able to garden again after they place in a raised flower bed, she says gardening is something that will improve her overall quality of life.

“I love nature, I’m a nature bug, I’m a country bug and it’s hard for me to be in town,” said Bocock.

And she says she couldn’t be more grateful for this help, “Very big heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you that have come out here and volunteered your time and your smiles and your hugs and handshakes, this is great."

This project in Colorado Springs is part of the Home Depot Foundation’s ninth annual celebration of service season to improve the homes and lives of U.S. Military Veterans.