For the Leonard family, diy sos is no longer just a television project but a practical route toward something they have been trying to achieve since October 2024: bringing Hannah Leonard home. The Bray family’s story has become a striking example of how a major injury can reshape every part of family life, from medical care to the structure of a house. This summer, the DIY SOS: The Big Build Ireland team is preparing to transform that reality in Wicklow, with one aim at the center of the work — making home possible again.
Why the Bray home adaptation matters now
Hannah Leonard, 24, was seriously injured when she was struck by a car while training for the Dublin Marathon in Sicily on October 6, 2024. She was at a pedestrian crossing when the accident happened. Since then, her recovery has moved through several stages, including care at Beaumont Hospital and later the National Rehabilitation Hospital, where she is currently receiving treatment.
What makes the case urgent is not only the severity of the injury but the gap between medical recovery and practical living arrangements. Her family’s home is not yet suitable for the level of care she needs. The planned work must create an accessible downstairs bedroom, a fully equipped wet room, substantial storage for medical equipment, and a larger shared living area so Hannah can be at the center of daily family life. In that sense, diy sos is responding to a housing and care challenge as much as a construction challenge.
The road from accident to return home
The timeline shows how long recovery can stretch when an accident happens far from home. Months passed before Hannah could be transported back to Ireland after the accident. That delay alone underlines the complexity of serious injury cases involving international travel, even before long-term rehabilitation and home adaptation are considered.
A fundraising campaign launched after the accident has raised more than €360, 000 for medical expenses. But the family says that sum will not cover everything needed, especially the medical bills and home modifications required for Hannah’s return. The family has also faced the added burden of the heartbreaking loss of their teenage son, a fact that deepens the emotional weight of the case and helps explain why the promise to bring Hannah home carries such force.
The issue reaches beyond one household. Hannah’s father, Kevin Leonard, said in a detailed update that the application to the diy sos team was submitted to avoid Hannah being placed in a nursing home or sent back to Beaumont Hospital because the house was not suitable. He also said there are no dedicated long-term Acquired Brain Injury residential facilities in Ireland, leaving families with difficult choices between a nursing home and an acute hospital.
What diy sos reveals about care, housing and pressure on families
The Leonard case highlights a difficult reality: recovery does not end when a patient leaves a hospital ward. It continues in the home, where space, equipment and mobility access can determine whether family care is possible at all. That is why the planned rebuild matters well beyond the walls of one property in Bray.
Kevin Leonard said public health nurses, the community care team and the team at the National Rehabilitation Hospital are all working to make the return home possible. He also said the family will still need a sizeable care team and package once Hannah is home. That is a significant reminder that even a successful renovation does not erase the need for ongoing clinical and social support. In practical terms, diy sos may solve the housing barrier, but the wider care system still has to hold the rest together.
Expert perspective and the wider impact
The DIY SOS: The Big Build Ireland team described Hannah Leonard as an extraordinary young woman who survived a horrific accident and has continued to defy expectations through procedures, setbacks and uncertainty. The team has set its Bray build for Tuesday, July 14 through Thursday, July 23, and has appealed for local support from Bray and surrounding areas.
That call reflects how deeply local action can matter when formal systems are stretched. The reference to An Saol Foundation trying to develop a long-term care facility, while continuing to face red tape, points to a broader structural problem that families encounter when specialized options are limited. The case raises a straightforward question with complicated implications: if the right home environment is essential for recovery, who is responsible for making that environment possible when the system has no easy pathway?
For now, the Leonard family’s immediate hope is clear. diy sos is set to help turn a promise into a physical home, and Hannah’s return will depend on whether the build, the care package and the surrounding support can align in time. What happens next will matter not only for one Bray household, but for how Ireland thinks about recovery, disability and the place of family in long-term care.
