A 12 Year Old Heart Patient Next Week on Extreme Makeover Home Edition  3/26/07

A TWELVE-YEAR-OLD GIRL WHO'S UNDERGONE FOUR OPEN HEART SURGERIES AND HER FAMILY WILL RECEIVE A BRAND NEW HOME, ON "EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION"

Ty and the gang will build a new home in a remarkable seven days to help make life easier for the Thibodeau family from Brookings County, SD, on "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," SUNDAY, APRIL 1 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. (Rebroadcast. OAD 11/5/06)

Twelve-year-old Siehera Thibodeau was born with a large hole in her heart. Due to this birth defect, she has undergone four major open heart surgeries and recently just came home after the fourth. During her last surgery she went through some complications when her kidneys went into failure and both of her lungs collapsed.

With Siehera's frail body, she needs a lot of warmth and comfort to fully recover at her house in South Dakota. The house needs massive improvements, as they use a portable space heater to heat the entire home. Given South Dakota's harsh winters, Siehera will be very susceptible to infection; a minor cold could possibly put her back into the hospital.

Siehera's loving parents, Kevin and Nila, are both outstanding members in their community who give back as much as they can. They are always there to offer a helping hand to their neighbors, friends and family members. During the winter months, Kevin hunts and provides food for not only his family, but also to a local family with a disabled father.

Unfortunately, since Siehera's condition is considered pre-existing by the family's insurance policy, she has never been covered. Now the family has major medical bills and Siehera has one more major surgery -- to receive a mechanical valve -- in five to seven years.

The Thibodeau family have been through a lot, but their love and support for each other has pulled them together. Now it's up to "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" to pull together to give Siehera and her family the home they deserve.

While the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" design team, local builder Signature Homes, contractors and hundreds of workers and volunteers are transforming the Thibodeau house into a dream home, the family will go on vacation to New York City. The design team for this episode will feature Ty Pennington, Paul DiMeo, Eduardo Xol, John Littlefield, Michael Moloney and Tanya McQueen.

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," which has won back-to-back Emmy Awards as Best Reality Program (non-competitive) is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding. Denise Cramsey is the executive producer and David Goldberg is the president of Endemol USA. The series is broadcast with Spanish subtitles via secondary closed captioning. This program carries a TV-PG parental guideline.

Source: ABC Press Release