The Girard Family Sunday on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition  4/17/09

"EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION" HELPS A FAMILY WHO'VE SUFFERED THE DOUBLE TRAGEDY OF LOSING THEIR HOME TO A FIRE AND THEIR FATHER AND SON TO A DROWNING ACCIDENT 

"Girard Family"-- After the Girard family lost their home to a fire a year ago, they faced a double tragedy when husband Thomas and eldest son Marc both drowned in June, leaving Carol and her four children devastated. Now Ty and the designers will be traveling to Voluntown, Connecticut to tell the family that they'll have a new and renovated place to call home in only seven days. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" airs SUNDAY, APRIL 19 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. (Rebroadcast. OAD: 2/8/09)

Pinnacles of their community, the Girard family have always participated in a variety of volunteer efforts and charitable missions. The true heroism and courage of Thomas and Marc Girard will live forever in the memories of the many people's lives they touched, as both father and son embodied the spirit of generosity and dedication. Marc was studying to become a priest and Thomas, a computer technician by trade, donated his time to fundraising to help the elderly and the poor and to repairing computers at the children's elementary school. A year ago they lost their home in a fire and the Girards moved from a tent to a tiny camper and then to Carol's mother's house, which is almost 40 miles away from where the children go to school. The children sleep scattered throughout the house -- in the living room or in the cellar -- due to lack of space. Then one afternoon in June, Thomas took three of his children to a nearby lake for an afternoon swim. He began having trouble breathing, so Marc rushed into the lake, brought Hannah to safety and then went back into the water to help his father. Tragically his father never made it back, and Marc died trying to save him.

The Girards need help, so it's up to Ty and his designers to build this brave family a new home, a place where they can recover from the immeasurable loss they've experienced. While Ty and the designers, local builder Home Designs BY Bruno and hundreds of volunteers and workers are building their home, the Girard family will go on vacation Walt Disney World.

The design team for this episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" will feature team leader Ty Pennington and designers Michael Moloney, Paige Hemmis, Ed Sanders and Rib Hillis. The series is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding. It's executive-produced by Anthony Dominici. David Goldberg is the president of Endemol USA.

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is broadcast with Spanish subtitles via secondary closed captioning. This program carries a TV-PG parental guideline.

This episode of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" will be available on ABC.com the day after airing on the network for users to watch online.

Source: ABC Press Release

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