rior
to his on-camera encounter with “Extreme Makeover: Home
Edition,” which aired on January 16, Anderson lived in a
1911 three-bedroom, one-bathroom South Central Los Angeles house
with his parents, his sister and her three children. He was restricted
to two rooms, including the dining room, which was converted to
his bedroom. Many of the older home’s doorways were too
narrow to accommodate Anderson’s wheelchair.
At one point, a contractor was hired by the state to work on the home but after knocking down some walls and beginning other projects, the contractor disappeared, leaving the house a shambles. Because of the house’s age, the ceiling was in danger of collapsing and the floorboards were buckling under the weight of Anderson’s wheelchair. A large portion of the house was exposed to the weather, the beams covered only by a tarp.
In stepped “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” tipped off to the family’s dilemma by a family friend. In short order it seemed as if the show’s staff and the entire country fell in love with Anderson and his family.
The show sent the Andersons and Monique to the Bahamas on a seven-day, all-expenses-paid vacation while the residence was demolished and replaced with not one, but two homes completely rebuilt with state-of-the-art wheelchair amenities. One house for Rodney and Monique, and one for his parents and his sister and her family. In an unprecedented move, the show extended its work to an eighth day, allowing the Andersons additional vacation time.
The cast members, led by Ty Pennington, built two dream homes, adding the latest devices meant to make life easier for the Andersons. In addition, they planned and executed a romantic secret wedding for the couple. Throughout the preparations, the show’s crew members were shown wiping away tears, exhausted by their efforts but inspired by Rodney’s story.
Construction crews worked around the clock, through rainstorms, and designers even hung drywall in order to get the job finished in time for the family’s return.
The result?
“I haven’t seen him smile like that in so long it’s pathetic,” said Joe Anderson, Rodney’s father, of his son. “Now he just smiles all the time.”
Since the show, Rodney Anderson says that living in the homes equipped with extra-wide doors, reinforced flooring, special ramps, electronically powered heating, lighting and a host of other features has freed him from constant reliance upon his sister, Glenda, and his mother, Martha. “My independence is like a breath of fresh air,” he says. “There’s a total difference in my life. I’m a family person, and it used to be that everyone had to come to me in the front room. Now I’m a lot more active.”
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