21 February 2023 , 20:30
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DIY SOS star Gabrielle Blackman was better suited than anyone to help a family in grief.
The interior designer, who also goes by Gaby, has been using her skills to transform the lives of families in need on the show since 2012.
But in a recent episode, Gaby joined presenter Nick Knowles and the team to help a family in crisis after a tragic death left their home uninhabitable.
Shaun McAuley was halfway through building an extension in their home when he was diagnosed with cancer and died just eight weeks later.
Wife Lindsey, their two boys Leo, four and one-year-old Zac together, and Lindsey's two kids, Maisy, 16, and Hazel, 13, from a previous marriage were left with nowhere to live while hey grieved for Shaun.
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"When you're in the middle of grief, in the middle of a massive crisis, you can't even decide what type of sandwich you want. Let alone how you want your house to look," said Gaby as she started to redesign their home.
Gabrielle with Nick and the rest of the DIY SOS gang (BBC)Get the news you want straight to your inbox. .
"Living with grief, you can't concentrate properly. Your whole mind is absorbed with doing normal things and getting through the day.
"So I want everything in this house to be down to stress reduction with Lindsey and keeping everything as calm as possible.
Nick said that Gaby had mentioned 'grief' twice and stated that people might not understand what she went through on a personal level, revealing she had been through "heart-wrenching grief" herself.
Sadly, Gaby's son had hypoplastic left heart syndrome and tragically died.
Struggling to speak, Gaby replied: "Yeah, and I still can't talk about it. I know what it's life to fall, have the rug pulled for under you very unexpectedly. And I think that is what powers everything I do.
"I want to keep it lovely, simple and warm, for this house to wrap its arms back round her again so she can just get in here and grieve."
Gaby opened up about her own experience (BristolLive)Nick gave her a massive hug, and explained that Gaby's empathy for family meant she understood exactly what they all needed.
In the summer of 2021, Shaun and Lindsey began to extend their house in Kettering, Northamptonshire, with a local builder working with them to put in the foundations, walls and roof.
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After getting the structural elements sorted, the plan was for Shaun to finish the rest of the build himself by fitting a new kitchen and bathroom.
However, the fit and healthy dad started experiencing lower back pain and doctors found a mass in his stomach which they removed.
"They werent trying to do anything outragoeus, just put a modest extension onto the back of their house. And they just had the most incredible bad luck," said Gaby.
Shaun had an operation on his kidneys and bowel, but he was struck down by an aggressive cancer which spread to his lungs and died in November, just eight weeks after being diagnosed.
Shaun and Lindsey McAuley with their family before his tragic death (BBC)Heartbreakingly, one of the last things that Shaun said to Lindsey before he died was: "Sorry I'm leaving you in such a mess."
Before Shaun died, Lindsey's best friend Millie asked his approval for her to contact DIY SOS and was fine with it, but sadly he died a week after the producers got in contact.
Nick, who was determined to make sure the renovation was done right, said: "Shaun served his country. He set out to build this house for his family. He wanted to provide and protect.
"What we have seen is that everyone here is determined to pick up where he left off so they have a family home."
There were also hundreds of local tradespeople, volunteers and some of Shaun’s old Army pals who stepped in to help with the amazing transformation, which only took a week.
This included creating a a purpose-built studio at the bottom of the garden for Maisy and Hazel, a bedroom for Lindsey and turning the kitchen into the hub of the home.
The DIY SOS team and hundreds of volunteers transformed their homeGaby wanted the two teenage girls to get their own space to relax away from the chaos of the house.
She said: "Lindsey as a mum, and I totally get where she's coming from as a mum, has been feeling guilty and worried that Maisy and Hazel have really stepped up and been incredible.
"The surprise of this build that they're not expecting is we're putting a room at the end of the garden.
"I just want them to have this lovely space and wonderful surprise. And a reward because they have been amazing."
She also took the girl to acommunity garden project to create nature vibes for their new space.
"I'm feeling really happy and amazed at what all these people have come to do," said Lindsey as she addressed the gathered volunteers outside.
"It's an absolutely beautiful house. Shaun would be absolutely blown away by how beautiful it is. He would have loved it. It's open, airy, comfortable and cosy."