Army Private First Class Heather Trujillo was only twenty-three when she suffered a spinal cord injury while serving as a surgical technician in Afghanistan, leaving her partially paralyzed from the waist down. A recipient of an HFOT home in 2018, Heather is now in the final stages of completing her autobiography. “It’s a book of stories about how I found my way to a brilliantly happy life in the midst of it all—with some help, of course,” she says.
In her own words, Heather shares how her specially adapted custom home gave her a bridge to her future.
“Some may say that I am surrounded by just walls and timber, but those walls and that timber gave me back a whole new world. When I found Homes For Our Troops, I was struggling to find my place in a world that I could no longer navigate easily. I spent much of my time stuck in a bed, and through a small window, I daydreamed of a life where I could be less of a spectator. When HFOT told me that they were building a home for me, I started to fight harder, in a way, I think, to earn this incredible gift that I was being given.
Future Plans
Intense physical therapy helped me move better, and when I overdid things, I had a safe place to heal and start again. My children were afraid to go into the world, but they have since flown the coop, comforted with the knowledge that I am safe. My daughter is married and has two beautiful children. My son is engaged and about to leave for the Army. I met and married my best friend, graduated college with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, and set about making another part of the dream come true.
Outside of the physical damages I brought home were the invisible ones, namely my ability to carry children. As much as I fought through all the surgeries—36 to be exact—over almost two decades, I lost 19 pregnancies. There was no getting around the environment my body had turned into— my body was no longer safe for our precious embryos. But my HFOT home gave me a way to conquer my mountain. The degree allowed me to find a remote position, and the financial stability of a mortgage-free home gave us the ability to move forward with expanding our family through surrogacy. This past July, our dreams came true when we welcomed sweet Ava, our miracle baby.
There are parts of my life I can never rebuild, but amazing people like you gave me the parts I needed to build a bridge.”
At Homes For Our Troops, we are committed to helping Veterans reclaim their independence and their future. Learn how you can make an impact by helping restore freedom and independence for our nation’s most severely injured Veterans through the life-changing gift of a specially adapted custom HFOT home.