Veterans Day came early for one North Texas soldier -- in the form of a new home.
Sgt. Bryan Ball was injured in Afghanistan in 2009 when he was hit with an improvised explosive device, taking shrapnel throughout his body.
Ball lost his right middle finger and most of the feeling in his right hand. Doctors also had to remove approximately half of his large intestine.
He was awarded the Purple Heart for his service and will medically retire from the Army at the end of 2012.
Since returning to the United States, Ball and his wife, Jessica, have been struggling to buy a new home. The couple also have a 4-month-old daughter.
Goodwill and other sponsors surprised Ball with a new, mortgage-free home before Colleyville Heritage High School's varsity football game on Friday night.
Ball graduated from Colleyville Heritage.
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"You go from living in a hospital to living in a hotel room ... now we're in a rental house right now and, once I'm out of the Army, where do you go?" he said. "So this obviously has given us a place to go."
Their new home is located in Cedar Hill.
"We've been in limbo for over three years now, and now we have answers, so we know where we're going to be living," his wife said. "It's great. It's a great feeling."
The couple said they wanted to move to North Texas to be closer to family.
