DIANA, Texas — With coronavirus in mind and many people taking part in do-it-yourself projects at home, Decked Out Construction and Outdoor Living says they decided to do a $500 drawing for one lucky winner.
"About every two or three months, we do drawings," Ashley Campbell, co-owner of Decked Out, said.
One entry stuck out to Campbell and his wife Amber, who is the co-owner of the company.
"When I read the story on Facebook something about it triggered me," Campbell said.
Janice Gray, from Diana, Texas, was that winner.
"I needed some repairs done on the porch so I could get Monica out for the summer," Gray said. "She's in the house all the time."
Janice lives and cares for her daughter Monica, 45, a former nurse from Kilgore. In order for Monica to exit her home with ease, a ramp would be required.
In 2001 Monica was in an accident that changed her life.
"She didn’t want to work in nursing homes so she took a job in the Panhandle and moved away," Gray said. "She'd been there for six years working on her registered nurse's degree. One day she was out, she was going to the ball field [on her bike] because she was an outside person. She loved outside. She played softball, and on the way she was hit by a 16-year-old newly licensed driver from behind."
Monica's family says she was taken to the hospital to be treated, the same hospital where she worked in Dalhart, Texas. Her sister says she was unrecognizable to her friends at the hospital until they cut her clothes and recognized her necklace she wore daily with the Virgin Mary.
“She was in a comatose state for a really long time," Gray said. "I brought her to Shreveport to long-term center. They kept her there until her insurance ran out because she wasn’t working anymore."
After being treated in a few different hospitals and facilities, Monica made it back to East Texas and has been living with her mother, Janice, for the past 19 years.
The deck would a game changer for Monica and her family.
"To her, it’s going to be big life change," Gray said. "She’s going to have so much more joy in her life."
In addition to the gift card, Decked Out says Fortress Building Projects, McCoys, Satterwhite Log Homes, Jots Rentals and Double H Crawfish volunteered their time and efforts in making the construction of the deck happen for free.
"From a gift certificate to all of this, it's awesome," Gray said. "I'm still in disbelief."
Decked Out says their goal is to complete the project in three days by May 29.
For more information on the project, follow this link.