Utah County family in need gets new home

OREM — Two-year-old Presley Gleason doesn't have a clue her family just scored a home makeover from a local nonprofit organization, but she's so excited upon discovering a crowd of neighbors and news crews outside her Orem home that her heart monitor starts beeping. Her mother, Mindy Gleason, who pushes the blond, blue-eyed toddler in a wheelchair, has to wipe away a tear.

"I don't know what to say," Mindy Gleason says, all cameras fixed on her Wednesday afternoon. "We're really excited. We're really grateful. There are so many families out there who deserve this."

The Heart 2 Home Foundation, which is based in Utah County, announced plans Wednesday to build a much-needed addition onto the Gleason's split-level house.

Mindy and her husband, Mike, have struggled to care for their little girl, who has an unidentified neuromuscular disease, since February when she fell ill with respiratory syncytial virus. Because of her medical condition, Presley's body shut down under pressure. She now requires the aid of half a dozen different medical machines, including a feeding pump and a ventilator, to survive. Attached to these machines and confined to a 200 pound wheelchair, it is nearly impossible for Presley to move around her parents' two-story home. Exacerbating the family's trouble, because Presley's vocal chords are partially paralyzed, she cannot speak above a whisper.

"She's so fragile," said Greg Adamson, president of Heart 2 Home. "The thought of her in an upstairs bedroom not being able to cry out — it just killed me."

Heart 2 Home contractor Sean Foote said the organization plans to turn the Gleasons' back patio into a bedroom, bathroom and living area for little Presley.

"Sometimes we get stuck upstairs all day," Gleason said. "Having this room will bless us so much."

After more than two harrowing months in the hospital with Presley, whose lungs collapsed twice during her bout with RSV, Gleason quit her job as a hairstylist. She now spends her days at home, caring for her 2-year-old, who requires constant supervision. It takes Gleason 10 trips up and down the stairs to move Presley and her medical equipment from her upstairs bedroom to the living area downstairs. Sometimes, while Gleason is busy relocating equipment, Presley's tracheotomy tube will pop out of her neck. By the time her mother returns, the little girl is blue in the face. Gleason has to resuscitate her.

"At first it was really scary," Gleason said. "But I've gotten to the point that I accept that this is my life and this is what I've got to do to keep my baby."