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Afghanistan Vet Who Lost Both Legs Receives Smart Home From Gary Sinise

Updated September 4, 2021

One might look at the work the Gary Sinise Foundation does for veterans and military families and assume that playing Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump deeply affected the actor.

However, according to The Epoch Times, Sinise has worked in support of veterans since the 1970s. So if anything, it's the other way around and his passion for veterans informed his portrayal of the character.

It is definitely true that his organization has found new solutions to ease the struggles that veterans can go through; perhaps the most sophisticated of these solutions is to be seen in the case of one Arizona man.

In 2005, Sergeant 1st Class Caleb Brewer of Tucson, Arizona, enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves.

Facebook | Caleb Brewer

As The Epoch Times reported, he then found himself in a position to join the Green Berets in 2012.

Between then and 2015, he was deployed in Afghanistan.

While there, Brewer experienced life-threatening injuries after stepping on an IED on his 31st birthday.

Facebook | Caleb Brewer

As retired general and Gary Sinise Foundation CEO Robin Rand said, Brewer lost both of his legs as a result and also experienced serious infections, blood clotting, and blood loss.

The Epoch Times reported that, on top of all of this, he also sustained a traumatic brain injury.

And yet, after only four months, he had already made impressive progress in rehabilitation.

Facebook | Caleb Brewer

He learned how to walk using these prosthetics and developed a special workout room to both aid his physical therapy and maintain his fitness.

Brewer doesn't just train for his own sake either.

Facebook | Caleb Brewer

As The Epoch Times reported, he now helps train other disabled men and women so they can achieve a journey similar to his.

But now, Brewer has some valuable support from an unexpected source.

Word of what Brewer has gone through eventually reached Gary Sinise, who reached out to him.

Instagram | @garysiniseofficial

Sinise made him aware of one of the foundation's programs called RISE, which stands for Restoring Independence Supporting Empowerment.

What this functionally translates to is building smart homes and modifying vehicles to meet the needs of wounded veterans.

Soon after Brewer applied, he was approved for one of these homes, which was fully built by February 6, 2019.

YouTube | GarySiniseFoundation

He now lives there with his wife, Ashley, and two daughters, Emily and Evelyn.

Brewer said, "It’s incredibly overwhelming in a good way. It doesn’t feel real. I never would’ve expected it in a million years."

The house features an array of functions that Brewer or his family can control with a tablet.

YouTube | GarySiniseFoundation

These include controls to adjust the stereo volume, to access cameras so they can see who's at the door, and to open the blinds.

While taking a tour through the house, Brewer pointed out other ways in which his house makes things easier for him.

YouTube | GarySiniseFoundation

As he said in a video of this tour, the kitchen cabinets pull down so he can reach them from a wheelchair, while the microwave is in a drawer and the oven is at chest-level for the same purpose.

The bathroom also has a heated bench so he doesn't have a shockingly cold beginning to every shower.

h/t: The Epoch Times

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