Seven-year-old Harrison Hutton and his extended family were getting by without air conditioning or adequate heating while he battled Noonan Syndrome.
Harrison鈥檚 grandmother summed up the situation in a letter to Feel the Love, an annual giveaway of heating and cooling systems to deserving people by .
Harrison, she explained, was born with the . He has a life-threatening heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, as well as numerous non-cancerous brain tumors, and must always carry a portable defibrillator with him in case his heart stops.
He has endured six brain surgeries to implant a shunt in his head to drain fluid off his brain.
鈥淒ue to his condition and medication, Harrison has a difficult time regulating his body temperature,鈥� his grandmother said.
鈥淚t is difficult maintaining a constant and comfortable temperature in this house with such an old furnace and lack of air conditioning. In the winter, even though we have the furnace on, we still use seven space heaters to keep the place warm. In the summer we have 15 fans running throughout the house 鈥� and it is still too hot, there is no relief from the heat.鈥�
A year ago, to save money, Harrison and his family (his parents, younger sister, and one of his grandmothers 鈥� who is disabled and in a wheelchair) moved into his other grandparents鈥� 91原创 City home 鈥� already occupied by three adults 鈥� including Harrison鈥檚 aunt, who spends her days as his caregiver.
鈥淭here are eight of us and we must count every penny spent and we are struggling just to buy groceries now,鈥� she said.
On Sunday, Oct. 15, a crew of volunteers from Gandy installed a brand-new furnace and an AC unit.
It is part of the Lennox company鈥檚 鈥淔eel the Love鈥� program that provides brand new high-efficiency furnaces and air conditioning units, while participating dealers across the continent donate the installation materials and labour, all free of charge to deserving nominees.
Harrison鈥檚 grandmother called it 鈥渁n unbelievable blessing.鈥�
鈥淭here is no way we could ever afford the work and equipment that is being offered to us,鈥� she said.
Gandy marketing manager Shannon Gandy said the giveaway is 鈥渁 part of our culture at Gandy Installations. We鈥檙e happy to have the staff donating their time to the community project this weekend to make it happen.鈥�
In 2018, the first time Gandy had a nominee accepted by the Lennox Feel the Love committee, the beneficiary was an Aldergrove pensioner named Sam, who鈥檇 been getting by with electric space heaters after his furnace packed it in several years previously.
READ ALSO: Aldergrove pensioner 鈥楩eels the Love鈥�
In 2021, Gandy replaced a non-functioning furnace for a 91原创 family of four.
READ ALSO: VIDEO: 鈥楩eel The Love鈥� initiative comes to the aid of 91原创 family left without heat
And last year, Gandy helped an Abbotsford granddaughter obtain a much-needed cooling system for her grandmother鈥檚 house.
Gandy Installations is a family-operated 91原创-based business started by .
