GROVELAND, Fla. – A national nonprofit organization donated a new, customized home to an Iraq War veteran and his family Saturday morning.
Army Staff Sgt. Christopher Gordon was shocked when he took his first steps into his new home.
"It's just unbelievable. It's a life-changing thing," Gordon said.
[PICTURES: Nonprofit donates adapted home to injured Iraq War veteran]
In 2005, Gordon lost a leg when a roadside bomb hit his vehicle while he was serving in Iraq.
Gordon uses a prosthetic leg to get around, but he said he could never really relax when he came home. He relied on his family to help him around the house.
"Prosthetic is not the most comfortable thing in the world, so when you get home you want to take it off, unwind," Gordon said. "But you still want to be functional and that's what this home will do."
The national nonprofit organization Homes for Our Troops donated the mortgage-free, brand-new home in Groveland to Gordon and his family Saturday.
The home features more than 40 major special adaptions to help Gordon live more comfortably, including widened doorways for wheelchair access, lower countertops and automatic doors.
But Gordon said his favorite part of the home is the roll-in shower.
"I've been really looking for a shower like that since I got injured. It's really going to change how I do business from now on," he said.
"Homes for Our Troops" handed over the keys during a special ceremony that featured special guest speakers and Gordon's extended family.
Officials with the organization said this was the least they could do for someone who sacrificed so much for our country.
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"To know that we can do something to change their life and make them more comfortable in just their own environment, that's all we can ask for," Kristi Galanek, with Homes for Our Troops, said. "They deserve everything they could possibly get for all the sacrifices they made for us."
Gordon said his family is moving into the home right away.
He adds the home will not only help his family financially, but it will also change his life for the better.
"I'll be able to function better at home, be more motivated to do things outside of the home, get back to school, maybe in the future get a job. The sky is the limit," Gordon said.
For more information on Homes for Our Troops or to donate, visit www.hfotusa.org.