I got a call this morning from Taylor.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition contacted us to come to town to work their magic.

Look at this email…..

Scott,

I listen to your show every morning as I commute from Rochester to Wayland. I am a teacher and have a great family for your Extreme Home Makeover. I have gone through the application process but I wanted to pass on Taylor’s inspiring story to you. I have attached my reasons for nominating her. I thought she’d be excited to hear her story made it to you or maybe even your listeners.

Thanks so much.

I wrote…

Life as Taylor Kirin knows it is limited to the four walls of her home. Taylor was born with Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), a disabling and eventually disfiguring skin disease. Her skin lacks the anchoring fibers to hold it in place, thus her skin tears, scabs, and blisters at the slightest of touches. Bandages prevent serious infection or the fusing of fingers and toes, allowing Taylor to walk most days. Taylor is beating the odds and surpassing the typical life expectancy for a child with this condition! All the while, Taylor is spending 24 hours a day in a home that is not handicapped accessible or conducive to a life spent at home.

The Kirin home is a modest, middle-class home. There is not enough living space for all family members let alone enough space for a homebound child to live and prosper. It is not equipped to hold the medical supplies and nursing staff that are necessary with such a condition. Taylor’s physical therapy and recreation space is limited to the communal living room; the room where she also gets most of her treatments. She does not have the space or privacy necessary for a girl entering her middle school years. Taylor certainly does not have the space for any state of the art recreation equipment that would keep her flexible and mobile as her flesh starts to callus. Taylor lies side by side with her teachers; tutoring is done on her bedroom floor!

Despite her cramped quarters and dreary daily schedule, Taylor remains upbeat. She dreams of a cure for EB and to living a life filled with friends and dating. Some days, her outlook becomes gray. On those down days, we talk about Extreme Makeover Home Edition and to her dream of having a home that meets her needs and her dreams.

Taylor Kirin is the most deserving child I know! Even if her family is not selected, the application process alone has given her something to look forward to when there isn’t much hope left in her. Thank you for considering this little girl with the fragile body but the strength of a rhinoceros. She faithfully watches your show every week and awaits the day you wake her up with your bullhorn.

Thanks again, Scott.

Anne Packer

6th grade teacher/tutor

WCCS Middle School

HOW DO THEY CHOOSE? THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF STORIES LIKE THAT OUT THERE! MY HEART BREAKS FOR ALL

send your nomination to: castingwesternnewyork@gmail.com