Veteran gifted mortgage-free central Ohio home through Gary Sinise Foundation

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A veteran who lost his legs and suffered a traumatic brain injury in combat has been gifted a mortgage-free central Ohio home.

Retired U.S. Army Sergeant Shane Parson was given the home on Thursday through the Gary Sinise Foundation, organization that has custom-built more than 80 homes for severely injured servicemen and women.

Parsons was injured in Iraq in 2006, when was on a brief mission and drove over an IED that caused him to lose both his legs above the knee. As Parsons was being airlifted out, he went into cardiac arrest multiple times and was left with a traumatic brain injury.

More than 15 years after his injury, Parsons got the keys to his new smart home with his wife Jennifer and their two boys, Owen and Emmett, by his side.

“It’s surreal, I can’t believe I’m actually in my own home," said Parsons. "I keep thinking that I’m in somebody else’s house."

The home was built so Parsons could move freely, with everything is in reach and completely accessible, which is something he’s never had before.

“In the living situations we’ve had, he could only really live through 70 to 80% of the house, it was about as much as he could access," said Jennifer, Parson's wife. "Here he can access 100% of the house."

Getting the house through the Gary Sinise Foundation was not a short process, but now that the house is ready to go, the Parsons are thrilled.

“It’s going to allow him to be a better parent. Even though he’s already a wonderful dad, it’s going to allow him to be more hands on, be able to participate more where before he wasn’t able to,” said Jennifer.

For Parsons, he said he is just excited to live a normal life with his family in Plain City.

“It’s going to be easier for me to literally move around the house and get a better quality of life," he said.