Injured Speredon contributes to project

Jason Speredon was supposed to start on BYU's offensive line this season.

But before fall practice and two-a-days had advanced only a few days, he suffered a season-ending rotator cuff injury in his shoulder that took football away from him after a pained career filled with similar injuries, including a surgically repaired Achilles tendon as a freshman.

But this fall, Speredon isn't wasting away.

He's an important part of a huge project, the make-over of a Provo house for a husband and father of two who will greatly benefit from his domain becoming more handicap-accessible.

A couple of years ago, Cameron Sevy was sledding with his family in Provo when he saw his son go down a hill head-first. Sevy decided he'd give it a try, too. But the sled he was riding on crashed into a tree, and he wound up being paralyzed from the neck down.

Sevy works as a voice-over artist and has appeared in movies and other productions. He works out of his home in Provo.

The Sevy family is in for a huge treat when they return home and see this on Halloween.

Speredon has led an effort to get the job done by involving his Cougar teammates. Rebuilding this old house started Monday and will finish on Friday.

I toured the construction site Wednesday. It was amazing.

Just the amity, the charity and goodness of what I saw was inspiring.

It might be too early for a Thanksgiving story, but if you could see what has been done to the inside of this home, there is hope for all of us. There are good things happening in this world. There's gotta be after witnessing all the love and goodwill at the work scene.

Not to give the impression this was just a BYU football deal. The majority of the labor and work is coming from the community, including a core of local Realtors. Earlier in the week, 50 students from Cyprus High School came to the site and smothered it with work.

I'm telling you, this house was completely gutted. Every room was torn apart and will be redone. Everything from flooring, walls and cabinets, as well as much of the plumbing and electrical, are in the process of being replaced. Skilled craftsmen were there framing and putting up sheetrock. Decorators were designing room layouts.

Hallways and doors were torn out and widened, and the bathroom had a complete overhaul to make way for wheelchair movement within its walls. Finished carpentry work will proceed today, as will final touches of paint.