Ty Pennington shared his mother’s story of helping other families.
Pennington’s mom was diagnosed with a chronic lung condition, bronchiectasis, almost 20 years ago.
Speaking with People Magazine, Pennington described his mother, Yvonne Pennington as “the funniest person.”
He also opened up about his new role of looking after his mom as she is going through excess coughing and repeated infections, saying, “Now I’m a caretaker, so I live with her part-time and sort of look after her.”
He went on to say, “I never thought I’d be living with my mom again, but this is what happens in life.”
Pennington further revealed that he made sure to stay close to his mother, stating, “I built a house in Florida and so she’s there.”
“That’s why Savannah was sort of a good spot for me, because it’s about a two-hour drive so I can be there a lot more,” he added.
“just makes you want to do what you can to honor them for being as amazing as they are,” the longtime TV host explained.
Pennington opened up about the relief of finally understanding his mother’s condition after she endured it “for decades” before her official diagnosis.
“I think it gave us all a little bit of guilt, like we weren’t able to figure it out and it took somebody else [to understand] what it was,” he told the outlet.
“You just pass it off as, ‘Oh, maybe they’re just always sick,’” Pennington continued, “But the good news is now we understand, we know what she’s dealing with.”
He noted, “And the great news is we’re having fun. She’s laughing. She’s still the funniest person in the room. But we do understand what she’s dealing with and we can really help her situation because of that.”
“I think there’s a lot of other families who just need that clarity and need to understand what they’re dealing with,” the TV personality added.
“It’s also the reason why I’m sharing [my mom’s] story and trying to get the word out, so more people take a deeper look, talk to a pulmonologist, get a CT scan and find out whether they do or don’t have bronchiectasis,” he further added.
