Army veteran who lost leg in combat surprised with new home
NEW YORK (WABC) -- A Purple Heart recipient who lost his leg in Afghanistan was gifted a new home on Tuesday.
Retired Army Spc. Evan Marcy is receiving Building Homes for Heroes' 343rd home in honor of the 343 firefighters who died on 9/11.
Firefighters and supporters surprised Marcy with the news on Tuesday at a firehouse in the Bronx.
Marcy, a New Orleans resident, had been planning to move home closer to family and Building Homes for Heroes made the dream real with a home in Connecticut.
"Represents a new beginning I guess, but also a positive chance to reconnect with an area I've been missing," Marcy said.
Marcy was a senior in high school when then the terror attacks happened -- which pushed his life's path toward one of service.
His dad was an FDNY firefighter and spent nearly a month as a search-and-rescue first responder at Ground Zero.
"When I first got to this firehouse in the '80s they were little kids and they would come to work with me and they experienced this firehouse as firehouse kids where there was the holidays at Christmas time, right where he was standing now, Santa Claus would be there and he'd be sitting on his lap," dad Duane Marcy said. "And here we go years, decades later."
Marcy joined the military after high school and served for five years as a combat military photographer.
"Growing up in the fire department, coming here for different events, coming here and seeing my dad work, it just kinda instilled that brotherhood mentality as a child," Marcy said.
During a deployment in 2009 in Afghanistan, a fire forced him to take position on a mountain where he was struck by helicopter fire - resulting in the amputation of his left leg above the knee.
The home in East Haven, Connecticut, will be gifted to Marcy on Sept. 9 in partnership with FDNY 343 Ride, which has raised more than $1.2 million for severely injured veterans.
The group cycles 343 miles annually and this year they'll ride to the Marcy home.
"Since 9/11 I've seen so many miracles happen, so many miracles occur, and some of you may have heard to save one life is to save the entire world," said Andy Pujol, founder of Building Homes for Heroes.
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