STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Our main man for heroism gets wide-eyed with excitement when he is introduced to the building contractor who will lead the charge to build the house of his dreams.
"A huge garage," Brendan Marrocco replies with an outstretched prosthetic hand when Jerry Smith, owner of J. Smith Construction, walks up to Brendan’s wheelchair and asks what the 23-year-old Iraq war veteran wants for his future digs.
"That’s what I want..." Brendan says with a beaming smile, "a huge garage."
Make it the size of a Todt Hill palace, because nobody deserves it more.
It has been a long uphill battle to begin the rest of his life since Brendan lost all four limbs to a road bomb that hit while he and a small contingent of fellow soldiers were returning to their base from a night mission in northern Iraq last Easter.
Since that explosion ripped away his arms and legs, severed his carotid artery and damaged his left eye, Brendan’s home away from Huguenot has been the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Surgeries on his arms and legs have become routine. Rehab therapy is constant, followed by more surgeries to remove shrapnel from his forehead.
"And I have more surgeries coming up," Brendan says with the smile that refuses to quit.
"He’s been extremely positive since day one," says dad Alex Marrocco, who "can’t say enough about the dedication" of the doctors and "everyone" at Walter Reed.
There isn’t a reason in the world not to believe Alex when he says, "Brendan will walk again."
Not with new arms on the way ... and new legs.
"I’m amazed that they can do arm transplants," Brendan says, sporting a prosthetic left hand that spins around seemingly by magic. "They can make my life 100 times easier than what I have been doing."
Which, these days, is pretty much anything he wants to do.
A huge racing fan, particularly of NASCAR and Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brendan began modifying a 2006 Dodge Charger SRT8 with a 425-horsepower Hemi under the hood when he was home for Christmas.
The next time Brendan comes home from Walter Reed, he’ll install headers and put new tires on to fit the new rims.
And he may be close to acquiring a passenger-for-life.
Brendan admits that Kate Barto, an intern with Disabled Sports USA he met last July on a beach outing, "kind of caught me off guard" when she popped the question just before Brendan went home for Christmas.
"We’re taking it slow," Brendan says of any pending wedding plans.
When that day comes, a threshold may be in place for Brendan to carry his new wife over.
The "Smart Home" that the Stephen Siller Children’s Foundation and Building Homes for Heroes want to put up for Brendan would overlook the water at Wolfe’s Pond Park and be equipped with wheelchair ramps, an elevator, an electrical system that operates doors and lights on verbal cue and, of course, a garage.
"We are going to build a home for you filled with every need you want and all the love and commitment that you gave to our country," Frank Siller said yesterday when he announced the plans to have the house built by the time Brendan comes home for Christmas.
The only need right now is money — about $500,000, Siller figures.
Jerry Smith is donating his time and manpower, and companies are donating building materials.
But, "Land costs money," Frank Siller says.
So here’s your chance to help our hero — a kid who sacrificed his arms and legs so we can walk free.
The Siller Foundation’s number is 718-987-1931. Or go to buildinghomesforheroes.org.
Call or check the Web site for information on how to give a hero’s welcome to Brendan when he comes home to Staten Island for good.
After all, our hero had our back over there in Iraq.
The least we can do now is to get his.
| Island organizations pull together for Brendan Marrocco |
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