‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’ chooses family of Jeremy Williams, Greenville High School football coach

“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” will build a new home for Jeremy Williams, football coach at Greenville High School, and his family. The Pine Mountain family was surprised with the news this morning.

Jeremy Williams, who played football at Kendrick High in Columbus, suffers from ALS, a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that controls voluntary muscle movements. The condition is also often called Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

It kills motor neurons, which leads to atrophy of all the muscles and eventually death, typically of respiratory failure.

He has a 6-year-old son, Jacob, who was born with spina bifida, an incomplete development of his spinal cord. The boy is confined to a wheelchair and treatments include surgery.

Last year, Jeremy Williams led the Greenville High Patriots to an undefeated record and a playoff victory before having the season ended by Wilcox County.

The 11 wins were the most for Greenville since 1992.

“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” crews will work on the Williams’ new home throughout this week. The “Move That Bus!” reveal is slated for Saturday.

While their replacement home is being built, the Williams family — which also includes wife Jennifer and 8-year-old daughter Josie — will vacation at the Adaptive Sports Center in Crested Butte, Colo.

Read our previous coverage of Jeremy Williams by clicking on the links that accompany this page. Also, follow ledger-enquirer.com this week for updates on the home makeover process.

This story was originally published February 21, 2010 at 12:04 AM with the headline "‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’ chooses family of Jeremy Williams, Greenville High School football coach."