New home surprises blind airman, family

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - One of New Mexico's war heroes, who's proven blindness is not going to stop him from living his life, recently received a huge and surprising gift.

Airman Michael Malarsie and his wife Jessie from Valencia County moved last year to Texas so Michael could help other wounded warriors.

Malarsie was on patrol in Afghanistan in January 2010 when he was severely injured by a roadside bomb and lost his sight.

The Malarsies story captured the attention of the Internet show " Ultimate Surprises ."

And boy did they get one.

Michael now works at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio with the Recovering Airmen Mentorship Program helping other wounded warriors adjust to their lives.

The yahoo.com show "Ultimate Surprises" recently joined forces with the organization Operation Finally Home.

"We build mortgage-free homes for wounded veterans who have come home from Iraq and Afghanistan," Daniel Vargas of Operation Finally Home said on the program.

"The families we pick from have an optimistic, positive point-of-view that are not allowing what injury they're going through to affect them," added organization spokesman JR Martinez, who was wounded while serving in Iraq. "This family embodies that."

To pull off their surprise the organization told Michael and Jessie they were going to be considered by the program but first had to go through an interview process.

Little did they know wheels had been turning for weeks. In the middle of the interview, Martinez came in and led them away.

Waiting for them were their families and friends and the presentation of their new home.

"It's a huge comfort to me, I know to our families, that we're being taken care of," Malarsie said. "Thank you. It's not enough, but I don't know what else to say. It's overwhelming."

Construction is set to begin sometime this month on the Malarsie's home. It's a 2,500-square-foot house being built in New Braunfels, Texas, which is just south of Austin.