The Thornton family has been blessed with many things including wonderful family and friends. Throughout their lives, each of them has given to others in the most extraordinary of ways. It all began with Harry “Butch” Thornton in his years of service during the Vietnam War. He gave himself for his firm belief in his country. His wife of 45 years, Katherine, has always taken care of others that continued with a long stint working for the Shriners’ Organization. They married and had three beautiful children and instilled the same wonderful spirit of giving in their children. Their daughter, now 36, Tracey, fittingly works as a nurse at Lee Memorial Hospital and coordinates the many needs of patients at discharge from the hospital. She and her husband are also very involved in youth ministry at their N. Ft. Myers church transporting children to and from church activities and actually will be adopting a child this month. Charles “Chuck” Thornton, is 42 years old and has been volunteering his time since he was a kid. He is an active member of the Lee Building Industry Association and an avid supporter of the Builders Care program. On a whim of sorts to try and help out a 10 year old boy in Naples, Chuck decided to become a bone marrow donor back in 1997. Unfortunately, he was not a match, but just a short 5 years later, he would become a hero when he saved the life of another young girl who needed his bone marrow in order to survive. And Daniel Thornton, 38, has also always given to others by standing up for others that couldn’t stand up for themselves.
However, a major accident left the Thornton family in need of some help of their own. Daniel was working as a tile worker when a major motorcycle accident in 2002 changed his life forever. Daniel spent months in the hospital and in rehab trying to learn to walk again and complete daily tasks. While in the hospital, he suffered a stroke which caused more complications and left him completely paralyzed on the left side of his body.
He is now completely dependent on his parents and family members and lives with them in their N. Fort Myers home. His parents are his full-time caregivers and they are aging themselves. Most recently his father is suffering serious complications from Lung Cancer and having to spend weeks at the VA Hospital in Tampa. Family members are stepping into help care for Daniel while his parents are in Tampa.
The family has helped to make the home handicap accessible over the years including the widening of doorways, kitchen and wheelchair ramps, but the bathroom has proved challenging. In order for Daniel to regain some independence and bathe himself, the bathroom needs to be remodeled for handicap accessibility and safety.
Today, it is time for this family of givers to RECEIVE a gift themselves. The Guardian Angel for this project is Marvin Development. Together with many other building partners, they have come together to renovate this bathroom for Daniel and the rest of the Thornton family. They will be moving walls, cutting out floors, adding grab bars and more, so that Daniel can be independent once again. With Marvin Development at the helm, other contributing companies are Allied Portables,Cape Coral Plumbing, Coastal Building Materials & Dock Supply, Ferguson, FTM Construction, Inc., Gerwitz Construction, Mini-Metal, Inc., Nilles Design, Specialized Carpentry, Suncoast Contractor’s Supply, Truly Nolen of America, Wayne Wiles Floor Coverings, Westcoast Structural Concrete & Masonry, Xcel Painting, Inc. and Young’s Electrical Contracting.
The project is expected to be completed in just nine days. Stay tuned for more photos.
