Paralyzed teenager surprised with new master bedroom

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — After a Wilmington teenager’s spinal surgery goes wrong, leaving him paralyzed, a local organization is making his life a little easier just in time for Christmas.

Connor Sneed, who will turn 16 on Christmas Eve, is paralyzed from the waist down, but his life wasn’t always this way.

“He had scoliosis and had a surgery to correct it and then was paralyzed as a result of that surgery,” says Welcome Home Angel Program Manager Lyrica Squires.

Welcome Home Angel, a Wilmington organization founded in 2007, renovates bedrooms for kids with life-altering health conditions thanks to donors, local grants and community partners.

“The thing that I’m always most excited about for the projects is not about what they’re going to see tonight and how they’re going to react tonight, but about how it’s going to change their life in the long run,” says Squires.

She says besides the new paint, furniture and artwork, they also built Connor a custom bathroom to accommodate his needs.

“This wasn’t even a bathroom before, this was just a storage closet,” Conner says. “So it’s definitely very different, in a great way though.”

One of the designers on the project, Palma Minnich, says the project took about a month and a half. They also made over Connor’s sister Scarlett’s room, so she wouldn’t feel left out.

“Designing the vanity itself to meet his needs, and getting it all done on time, that to me was also incredible,” Minnich says. “The contractors were fabulous.”

Minnich says seeing the reaction on the kids’ faces, and knowing how much she’s helping this family, makes it all worth it.

“Just knowing that this really really really makes a difference in somebody’s life makes all the difference in the world in how excited I was to do this project,” Minnich says.

If you or someone you know could benefit from the Welcome Home Angel program, you can click here to learn more.