Extreme Makeover : Tennessee Style

Welcome "Home" Hawkins Family What do you think of when you hear the word hero? Webster's definition of hero is one who shows great courage. Amy Hawkins is a hero in every sense of the word.

In April a devastating F3 tornado ripped trough Hendersonville destroying the place that the Hawkins family called home. Jerrod who is a firefighter in Brentwood was at work when the tornado hit and could only watch the storm from his fire station as the tornado completely destroyed the Hawkins home, ripping it from it's foundation.

Amy knowing she had to protect her sons Jair age 6 and Cole age 3 laid her body on top of theirs to shield them from the storm. Amy's vertebrae and ribs were crushed, her lungs punctured and she received serious head trauma. Amy is paralyzed from the waist down and is now confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life.

You would think that an event like this would tend to damper the spirits of a person. Not Amy who is bound and determined to walk again against odds given to her by the doctors. Amy had been separated from her family for 3 months while she underwent extensive rehab therapy at a spinal cord injury center in Atlanta and just recently returned to Hendersonville.

When asked about what had happened Jair, age 6, told reporters "The house blowed down, and now mom's a hero." The community, identifying with Amy's story of sacrifice and heroism, collected over 50,000 names from across the country, nominating the Hawkins family for a visit from Extreme Makeover Home Edition. This made the Hawkins family the most-nominated candidate family in the program's history.

Early on the morning of July 28th the Hawkins family was awakened at their rental home by the familiar sound of Ty Pennington's voice through his bullhorn "Gooooood morning Hawkins family."

After meeting the design team of Ty Pennington, Ed Sanders, Paul DiMeo, Preston Sharp and Tracy Hutson the family was whisked away to Walt Disney World for an all expense paid vacation while Ty, the other designers, David Luecke, founder and President of Capital Homes and volunteers built the Hawkins family an "extreme" home.
The show usually begins with Ty and the crew surveying the home where the family lives to get an idea of their lifestyle. This wasn't something that could be done with the Hawkins family. The only thing left was a corner of their basement.