The family

UPDATE AT 3 P.M.: 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition' star Ty Pennington and former 'Pimp My Ride' star and makeover designer Xzibit, along with celebrity designers Ed Sanders and Eduardo Xol, are at the site filming shots and talking with the family.

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A Rossville, Ga. family's crumbling 50-year-old house has been chosen for an Extreme Home Makeover by the ABC show.

Michael and Cindy Sharrock, along with their 9-year-old son Patrick, were surprised with the news Sunday morning.

Patrick has a rare genetic condition, commonly known as brittle bone disease, where even the slightest bump could cause his bones to snap, a news release about the family on the website of local builder Vision Homes says.

Having already broken 59 bones, Patrick's old house with a severely sloping floor is considered "a major landmine," the release says.

Staff Photo by John Rawlston/Chattanooga Times Free Press This house at 179 Monahaw was chosen Sunday for the television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Neighbor Johnny Clark said he's seen Patrick playing in the yard wearing his leg braces.

"If anybody in this world ever deserves it, it's that little boy," he said. "He's had a really hard life. He could fall on a pile of sawdust and break a bone."

Clark said he and other neighbors knew the sound of nail guns and saws running 24 hours a day might keep them awake, but they don't mind.

"For that little boy, what little inconvenience I have to put up with is nothing," he said.

Staff Photo by John Rawlston/Chattanooga Times Free Press Equipment rolls in to the parking lot of the Newnan Springs Methodist Church on Sunday for the television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Vision Homes, the construction company partnering with ABC on the build project, says that despite the challenges, Patrick faces life with joy and humor.

"He tells jokes and keeps everyone around him laughing," a post at site says.

Ironically, Patrick also loves to break dance, the post adds.

Michael and Cindy home-school Patrick to avoid playground injuries and they also adjust their work schedules so one of them is always home with him. Even that is filled with potential problems though since Cindy is partially deaf and may not be able to hear Patrick if he should fall or hurt himself, the release says.

Times Free Press photo by John Rawlston. An army of trucks carrying heavy equipment and supplies show up at the Newnan Springs United Methodist Church in Rossville, which serves as the staging area for the build site.

The Sharrocks have become an inspiration to other families with kids facing challenges, the site says.

Patrick is a poster child for the local Shriners Hospitals for Children and speaks there often, the news release says.

"He visits other kids battling illness and cheers them up with his jokes because he believes 'a hospital wouldn't be a happy place without laughter,'" the site states.

Patrick also speaks for an annual event at the Chattanooga Discovery Museum which teams "typical" kids with special needs kids to foster better understanding, the release says.

This week the Sharrocks will take a vacation during the filming of the show.

While they're away, design team leader Ty Pennington and designers Ed Sanders, Leigh Anne Tuohy, Eduardo Xol and Xzibit will work with Vision Homes and community volunteers to build the family a new home.

Preparation appears to already be underway.

A few minutes after noon today an army of trucks carrying heavy equipment and supplies began to show up at the Newnan Springs United Methodist Church in Rossville, which serves as the staging area.

Ray Tanner of Rossville has been a member of the church for 16 years. He said the preacher came running up the halls at about 10:30 a.m. letting everyone know the trucks were on their way.

Staff Photo by John Rawlston/Chattanooga Times Free Press This house at 179 Monahaw was chosen Sunday for the television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

The church service let out 15 minutes early today at 11:45, Tanner said, adding that everybody had to get up and see what was going on.

Rumors of the project have swirled this week in the congregation, particularly after a tree service removed a low-hanging limb near a gate early this week so heavy trucks could pass through the church property, he said.

"We thought then it might be here" Tanner said.

The build site is on a side road almost directly across from Lake Winnepesaukah. Police have all roads off of Lakeview Drive to the site blocked off.

Volunteers are already on their way to the build site.

Continue reading: Family: Extreme Home Makeover is a "chance to start over"