I didn’t know this till I was told, but Veterans can get reasonable allowances to pay for upgrades to their residence like these handicapped accommodations in their shower.
In this case, a Former Marine was working for a Former Marine.
Because of his mobility impairment, he struggled to lift his feet over the tub’s edge. Entry and exit were dangerous and painful enough that he couldn’t take it anymore. The previous owner added a Bath-Fitter skin to the cast iron tub and tile surround. I would absolutely never recommend doing that. For him, it meant his best handrail option was the suction cup style, but they can’t hold tight for any reasonable length of time on a soft plastic flexible rubber wall. Removing that Bath-Fitter product was an awful operation.
Below are three photo browsers showing before, during, and after the rebuild.