Michael Jernigan, a former U.S. marine who lost his sight serving in Iraq, received a new home in Stafford County, Virginia, which the Carrington Charitable Foundation built and gifted to him and his wife, KimberLee, the Free Lance-Star reported Saturday.
“The home, in Robeli Farms off Poplar Road, has various adaptive and smart features that help Jernigan cope with the life-changing injuries he suffered 17 years ago in Iraq, when two 155-milimeter shells, buried in separate holes to maximize destruction, exploded,” the article continued:
The explosion sent him flying 65 feet. Shrapnel went in through his right eye and out his left, shredding everything in between. His helmet held up, but the impact crushed 45 percent of his skull. A finger was torn off, his right hand was badly damaged, his left knee was blown out and his femoral artery was cut. Somehow, he never lost consciousness—which he’s proud of—and even more amazingly, he survived. He’s got plenty of physical damage, but is grateful the traumatic brain injury, while significant, wasn’t as severe as doctors first feared.
Both bathrooms in the home have urinals, a feature Jernigan joked he needed because of his “target acquisition problem.”
Jernigan is president of the Blinded American Veterans Foundation and his wife is an advocate for his rights and for others who lost their vision in the line of duty since September 11, 2001.
The couple is planning to remain in Stafford and enjoy the community and get to know their neighbors who were there to greet them when they arrived from Texas.
“This project has experienced some challenges, with our limited ability to travel, as well as with the general state of turmoil affecting the construction industry,” Clay Morgan, vice president of facilities at the Carrington Charitable Foundation, noted. “However, we’re thrilled with the outcome, and can’t wait for the Jernigans to begin their new life in Virginia.”