Trace Adkins hits the road with 'Extreme Makeover Home Edition' to volunteer

Award-winning country artist Trace Adkins can not only sing,
but also swing--as in swing a hammer. The crooner traveled to
Texas on July 10 to volunteer for ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home
Edition. (Photo courtesy of Trace Adkins.)

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Trace Adkins’ reality-TV time, as it turns, out didn’t end with The Celebrity Apprentice, but his latest on-air stint is undoubtedly infinitely more rewarding.

During the past weekend, country star Adkins headed with the crew of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to 1648 Hash Road in Lancaster, Texas, to meet and aid the Carlton Marshall family. Carlton lost most of his mobility and all of his hearing after being shot in the neck while serving a narcotics warrant in October 2007 as part of a Dallas SWAT-team operation.

Severe spinal cord damage was immediate, followed by hearing loss and a stroke. Doctors saved Carlton's life, and today, rehabilitation has restored some of his mobility, but he's still primarily confined to a wheelchair and his home is in serious disrepair.

In addition to Carton’s health challenges, he and his wife’s youngest daughter, Jessica, also has health issues that began shortly after her father was injured. Specifically, about a month after her dad was severely wounded, the family reports, Jessica began having seizures.

True to the TV show’s modus operandi, Carlton and wife Susan, a homicide detective, were kept in the dark about the planned rebuild of their one-story brick home—where snakes have infested the walks, attic, writing and plumbing and the sewer's backed up into the yard.

Listed on the tax rolls at a value of under $45,000, the family's home was slated to be razed and reconstructed by the Extreme Makeover crew, including show-host Ty Pennington, as well as Grand Ole Opry member Adkins.

According to the crew in charge of the home’s rebuild, during a seven-day Extreme Makeover effort, local builder Cheldan Homes and volunteers will resolve rampant structural and accessibility issues, while also enabling the Marshall family to continue their longtime volunteer work with TROT, a horseback-riding therapy program for children and adults with mental and physical challenges.

Thus, while the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition team and multi-platinum-selling recording artist swing those hammers, the Marshall clan’s been ordered away on a family vacation to Disneyland.

No air date’s been announced at this writing for the upcoming edition of the program, but for those wanting to keep an eye out, check local TV listings as they become available or peruse the Extreme Makeover Web site for updates.