Our Hero: Sgt Danny Novoa
It was Sgt. Danny Novoa's dream to join the military since the 5th grade. We asked him to tell us his story.
"I went into the Marine Corps in 2002 and was medically retired in 2014. I did 4 combat tours — 2 to Iraq, then Afghanistan, then back to Iraq. In 2008, I was in Fallujah. The 4th time, I guess, was a charm… I got blown up by a roadside bomb. I spent 9 months in the hospital. I had to learn how to walk and talk again. It was kind of funny because I didn't know what was going on, I didn't remember anything. It wasn't until 4 months into my hospital stay that my ex-wife told me they were thinking they might have to cut off my legs. But the surgeries took. Then they thought I would be blind — I'm actually now blind in my left eye. I have seizures from the blast."
"So that's why I have him." Danny looks down at his service dog. "He lets me know when I'm going to have a seizure. It's great. We've been together 5 years now."
"It's hard to believe it's been 10 years and I'm still trying to… I just had ear surgery to repair my eardrum. They were both blown out — they're trying to rebuild an eardrum for me. I don't know, hopefully it takes. I can't complain. I'm still alive, I can see, I'm walking. The good thing is you can't tell anymore. By looking at me, you wouldn't know what happened. All my teeth are fake and I had a gnarly scar that went across my face. It's been a long road."
"I'm trying to find my 'new me' now. Trying to be happy. When Will — another Furnishing Hope recipient — was telling me that you could help me out with furnishings, I thought, 'Wow, that's really cool!' Will and I have known each other for about 6 years. We weren't in the same unit, but he walks and talks like me. We are both part of an organization called Warfighter Made. We help catastrophically injured veterans — single, double, or triple amputees. We adapt hand controls for their vehicles, because many of the guys don't like driving those ugly vans. We also take veterans out on trips to the desert, just to go and have some fun."
"It looks totally different in here," Sgt. Novoa said, looking around at the furnishings. "I didn't think it was going to look like this at all! I've been here 5 months. It's kind of hard — transitioning, and then a divorce and all that. I want my kids to have the same routine, that's the main thing. This actually — wow — it really helped me out a lot. It makes it more like a home. I'm really impressed. Wow, really, I'm totally shocked. I'm loving it, it's great. I'm speechless to be honest with you guys. Thank you so much!"
