Local Woman With Multiple Sclerosis Gets Extreme Home Makeover

A segment on Sunday's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on Channel 8, featured a home being built to fit the needs of a woman with multiple sclerosis. The situation is much the same for an Omaha woman whose residence is also being made handicapped accessible. 

 There are around 3,000 people who suffer from M.S. right here in Nebraska. One family has been dealing with the disease for twelve years, but will finally be moving into their dream home in less than a month.

The inside doesn't look like much, but in about three weeks, George and Arlene Cooper-Rider's new home will be complete. And it will have some very special features to accomodate Arlene's M.S. Things like widened hallways, a double-wide garage, larger doorways, a stair lift and a bathroom that's designed to fit her mobility scooter. For the Cooper-Rider's this dream has been eight years in the making.

Arlene was diagnosed with M.S. in 1994, a diagnosis that stemmed from a tingling sensation in her feet and the outside three fingers of each hand. Something she had no idea would turn out to be M.S.

In the beginning, Arlene was still able to move around, but after a few years, walking became more and more difficult, until she had to use a scooter to get around. Her husband, George, retired early from his job to take care of Arlene..something he didn't think twice about after 30-some years of marriage.

Kindra Krueger works for the National M.S. Society and says it's dubbed the “prime of life disease,” because people are usually diagnosed in between 20 and 50 years old.  She says someone will be diagnosed with M.S. every hour of every day. About 400,000 people are affected by M.S. in the United States.

George and Arlene will be able to move into their new house at the beginning of March.

For more information on M.S., you can visit www.nationalmssociety.org/nen.  You can also contact Kindra at the M.S. society at 402-572-3589.