MyFoxOrlando.com
A wounded veteran from Florida received a huge surprise Friday -- a brand new, custom-built home.
According to Fox 35, retired Army Sgt. Jackie Irving, who did tours in both Afghanistan and Iraq, got a mortgage-free house from Operation Finally Home, a non-profit that builds homes for wounded and disabled veterans.
Irving suffered serious injuries, including a brain injury, from an IED explosion in 2012. He also suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
"My family is happy, my kids are in there somewhere right now going crazy," Irving told Fox 35 after seeing his new home. "I'm happy, they're happy and I'm grateful for what's been done for us."
Lee Kirgan, vice president of construction at Operation Finally Home, told the station that the non-profit looks for veterans who, in spite of their injuries, "they just will not let anything get them down."
"For a while, I had to wait until it really got into me like 'OK dude, this is real. Nobody's playing jokes on you. This is the real deal,'" Irving told Fox 35.
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