This week at work there have been big semi trucks and box trucks parked in a roped off area at the bottom of the employee parking lot. We were all like wtf is going on? Turns out this morning when I went into work, the Extreme Home Makeover bus was in between the trucks! I was running late like always, but I took notice to a lot of construction type guys and a bunch of activity at the trucks. I did get a glimpse of something with colors parked behind the one truck, but I had to bounce before I was late. I found out that the thing with colors was the bus when I got into work. Even better yet, the family that's getting the makeover - the guy who passed away, Andy, was a client of my sisters. Everyone was so gutted when we heard the story of what happened to Andy and his wife and daughter, so this is a very happy day :-)
Originally Published: 7/29/2010 12:17:00 PM
Tilden widow to have house renovated by 'Extreme Makeover'
A Tilden Township woman whose husband died just nine hours before she gave birth to their first child will have her house renovated courtesy of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."
Host Ty Pennington and the design team surprised Trisha Urban and her daughter, Cora, 1, this morning at a carnival at the Cochranville Fire Company in Chester County, media spokesman Jeff Woytovich said shortly after noon.
Urban had received a raffle ticket during the carnival. When her raffle number was selected, she went onto stage and the Extreme Makeover bus pulled up, Woytovich said.
The raffle ticket was all planned, he said.
"We all ran up on stage, and the rest of build team ran up to stage," he said. "Ty was talking to Trisha and Cora, and her mother and sister."
Urban's husband, Andrew, died on Feb. 5, 2009 - nearly nine hours before she gave birth to the couple's first child, Cora Catherine, now 1.
Before they planned to leave for the hospital, Andrew stepped outside to feed the family's goats, horses and other animals.
When he didn't return, Trisha, found him outside, collapsed near the front gate.
She called 9-1-1. Both were taken to Reading Hospital.
Andrew, also know as Andy, had a congenital heart defect and was pronounced dead of heart attack at 12:53 p.m.
Trisha gave birth eight hours and 26 minutes later.
The couple had plans to renovate their 18 century log home on Hex Highway, which was unsafe for a child.
The basement was moldy. Electrical outlets hung off the walls. Holes were plugged with foam.
Developers who said they would remodel the home for free later pulled out because of the economy.
Renovations will begin Friday and continue through Aug. 6. The ABC Network, which airs the reality-TV show, will send Urban and her daughter on vacation while the work is being done. They'll return home for the "big reveal" once renovations are completed.