WASHINGTON — A Manassas Park, Virginia, retired U.S. Army reserve specialist injured in combat received a life-changing home upgrade Monday, thanks to a non-profit organization.
Jay Briseno of Manassas Park is blind, paralyzed from the neck down, speechless, dependent on a ventilator to breathe, needs a feeding tube and requires 24-hour care after he was shot in Iraq. Now, Helping A Hero is giving Briseno and his family a hospital-grade home.
Briseno, who was in the U.S. Army as a civil affairs soldier, was in his first year of college at George Mason University in 2003 when he was called up in active duty to go to war in Iraq. In late June 2003, Briseno was shot in the back of the neck — an injury that severed his spine.
Additionally, Briseno suffered two cardiac arrests, which cut off his oxygen supply for several minutes. The lack of oxygen led to brain injury.
Since his 2008 return, Briseno’s parents have been his caretakers and have transformed their dining room into an Intensive Care Unit to help meet his needs, according to Helping A Hero.
Helping A Hero provided a specially adapted home to Briseno, which includes wider doors, a roll-in shower, a lift system, therapy room and second master bedroom for his parents. Also, the home has a screened-in-porch and a deck where Briseno and his family can relax.
At the dedication ceremony Monday was Grammy-award-winning artist Lee Greenwood, who is also the national ambassador for Helping A Hero.
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The home’s doors are extra wide, and the family plans to move in during the next month. (WTOP/Andrew Mollenbeck)
“This is a real special group and we work really hard to make the lives better for these soldiers who have been wounded so severely,” Greenwood said on WTOP Monday.
Greenwood says he has presented keys to eight other Helping A Hero homes. Briseno’s new home is the second Helping A Hero residence in Virginia. A third home in the commonwealth is under construction.
More than 100 homes have been awarded in 22 states through the non profit.
Greenwood sang his popular song, “God Bless the USA,” at Monday’s event.
“It’s funny how inspiring it is,” Greenwood says of the song.
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