Paralyzed veteran receives adaptive smart home

CRESTVIEW, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - It can be difficult for service members maimed in action to live a normal life.

Wednesday, things got a little easier for a paralyzed veteran in Crestview, thanks to the Gary Sinise Foundation.

They dedicated a specially adapted smart home, mortgage-free, to U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Ian Prescott and his family.

While our area was cleaning up Hurricane Michael’s devastation, Sergeant First Class Ian Prescott spent December 2018 serving our country overseas.

“Every bit of this House is picked up by us and my one big ask for the house was a storm shelter,” he said.

Enemy forces attacked Sergeant Prescott’s team and he was shot.

Several of his organs were damaged and some had to be removed.

What came after would be hard for him and his family, in all kinds of ways.

“Being together in the kitchen, that was something Ian and I always did together, and we kind of lost an element of that relationship when he got hurt and he couldn’t cook anymore,” his wife, Carrie Prescott said.

This new specially adapted smart home he received from the Gary Sinise Foundation is meant to give Prescott back some of the life he’s been missing out on.

“Since my injury, ovens and stovetops and sinks and all those things that seem pretty normal to everybody else have been a pretty solid hurdle for me. Obviously, because [the] cooking side was difficult when you can’t get your legs under there. Same thing with the sink,” he explained.

Among many other helpful features, he relishes special decor on the wall.

“The big portion is of a Taliban flag that my team liberated from the Taliban. On the top, you have a bullet that I am very intimately acquainted with, and then down further, my Purple Heart. It’s a pretty meaningful plaque.”

He just has one complaint about learning about the home on his wife’s birthday.

“Pretty much just ruined my wife’s birthday for me because there’s no way I could compete with what he had just said but I’ll give him a pass this time,” he joked.

The Prescotts say they’re excited to start a new chapter after such a large sacrifice.

The new home includes features like an accessible shower and wide hallways.

Representatives with the organization say this is the 86th home they’ve built for disabled veterans to help them regain their freedom and independence.

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