Iraq War veteran receives mortgage-free home in Tampa
Former Buccaneer Martin Gramatica welcomes veteran Laura Sellinger to her new home.
Sellinger, who suffered a severe brain injury when an improvised explosive device (IED) discharged near her in Iraq in 2006, checks out the interior of her new home.
The nonprofit Gramatica Family Foundation helped Laura Sellinger and husband U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. John Sellinger (center) get their new home.
A cheering crowd welcomes Iraq War vet Laura Sellinger to her new mortgage-free home in Tampa. (Photo: Jason Lanning, staff)Bay News 9 Jason Lanning, Reporter Thursday, May 21, 2015TAMPA -- For Laura Sellinger, there's finally no place like home. The U.S. Air Force staff sergeant and Iraq War veteran received the keys to a mortgage-free home in Tampa on Thursday. Through a program called Finally Home and sponsored by former Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker Martin Gramatica's and nonprofit Gramatica Family Foundation, Sellinger received her gift with a ribbon-cutting and a cheering crowd outside the custom-built Lambright Avenue home."I know I’m not your typical veteran," Sellinger told the crowd. "I’m not an amputee. But that doesn’t mean that what I have been through hasn’t been incredibly traumatic for my family and I on a daily basis and it still goes on."I don’t have the words to tell everybody how grateful and proud and humbled we are to be a part of this and I can not think that this home was specifically built just for us. It’s a standing testament to what the American people really are of coming together and supporting one another." Sellinger was first deployed to Iraq in June 2006 and remained overseas until February 2007. In August 2006, an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded near her, resulting in a severe brain injury that would be the first of three she experienced during her time in Iraq. Sellinger was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the effects associated with her brain injuries when she was sexually assaulted at a base in Korea. She medically retired from service in June 2008, leaving with a number of injuries. She has chronic night seizures and chronic nerve pain due to her physical injuries as well as frequent fainting episodes. Sellinger currently lives with her mother, husband, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. John Sellinger and Ming, her service dog.
