An injured Navy veteran was presented with a mortgage-free, specially adapted smart home by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation on Feb. 18.
Gunner’s Mate Petty Officer 3rd Class Paul Hurley is a third-generation military member. His grandfather served in World War II, his father was a Marine, and his mother is a Navy nurse.
Hurley grew up in the Washington, D.C., area and enlisted in the Navy in 2005. He said his decision to serve was shaped, in part, by the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Hurley’s father was in New York City and had a meeting at the World Trade Center. However, he was running late and was not inside the buildings when they were hit.
“I thought I lost my dad that day. It wasn’t until later that I knew he was OK,” Hurley said. “I remember my bus ride home from school seeing and smelling the smoke from the Pentagon.”
Hurley was training to be a Navy SEAL and was in Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) Training when he was pulled and assigned to a Mobile Security Detachment in Bahrain. His anti-piracy missions spanned the Persian Gulf, the Horn of Africa, and the Mediterranean Sea.
“I loved the camaraderie, going through rough stuff with incredible people, and learning how to deal with it,” he said. “My time in the Navy put everything in perspective.”
Hurley was returning to base on the Bahrain Causeway on Oct. 6, 2006, with fellow sailor Master-at-Arms 3rd Class Roger Napper when their vehicle was intentionally targeted and forced off the road. The vehicle rolled and struck a concrete light pole.
Napper was killed in the crash and Hurley suffered catastrophic injuries, including broken legs, a traumatic brain injury, a shattered kneecap, and severe shrapnel wounds. He was placed in a medically induced coma and later transferred to Iraq and then Germany, where doctors amputated his right leg above the knee.
Hurley medically separated from the Navy in 2009 and went on to earn a degree from George Mason University.
The single-story, fully ADA-compliant home in Warrenton, Virginia, features zero thresholds, motorized doors, keyless entry, a fire suppression system, pull-down cabinet shelving, an accessible kitchen with a stove that raises and lowers to wheelchair height, smart controls for lighting, temperature, and security, and a whole-house generator to maintain functionality during power outages.
To date, Tunnel to Towers has delivered over 1,700 mortgage-free homes to the nation’s heroes and committed over $1 billion across all of its programs. It has set a goal to deliver 343 mortgage-free homes to catastrophically injured veterans this year.
For more information and to support the Tunnel to Towers Foundation's mission, visit here.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.