The touching story of how a team of volunteer builders transformed the life of stroke victim Richard Ford will be on TV before Christmas.

There will be emotional scenes as Richard Ford, dad to three young boys, tells of a devastating brain stem stroke which left him paralysed.

Former police officer Richard was a super-fit marathon runner when he collapsed suddenly at home after a family day out in 2012.

Richard, 44, of Holmbridge, was left with “locked-in” syndrome for nine months and could only communicate by blinking.

However his determination saw a remarkable recovery and he now gets around in a wheelchair and communicates via an iPad.

When he was eventually allowed home from hospital the family had to convert the children’s playroom into a bedroom for Richard.

He had no choice but to use a commode chair to go to the toilet, sometimes in full sight of his family – and that was where BBC TV show DIY SOS stepped in.

In March this year the show’s presenter Nick Knowles and a team of builders and tradesmen descended, spending two weeks transforming the family’s home.

Builders included Dalton-based Craig Miller Joinery & Building Solutions Ltd and apprentices Thomas Earnshaw and Rory Gibson from Kirklees College.

Now the BBC has announced that the show will air on December 17 at 9pm on BBC1.

A huge army of volunteers help answer the DIY SOS

The Examiner reported in March how the family had only been expecting a bigger bedroom and a wet room for Richard but found their home “totally transformed.”

Jude, 44, and sons Harry, 11, Oscar, eight, and Archie, five, found it “surreal” at first but loved it. Jude said: “We can’t thank people enough.”

In its promotional introduction to the show the BBC describes how Richard was struck down two weeks after running the Edinburgh Marathon and fought back to be well enough to return home.

“Tragically, though his body no longer works, Richard’s mind is unaffected, so he is fully aware of his situation,” it says. “He has very little privacy or independence.

“With the aid of his iPad voice simulator he tells us: ‘All I want is to be a husband and a father again.’”

The family have kept their new-look home under wraps until the programme is broadcast.