(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Colorado Springs veteran Christopher Drake and his family of seven had a very exciting Tuesday, after non-profit Cars 4 Heroes gifted them a free car.

The Drake family has no shortage of heroes in their household.

Father and veteran Christopher Drake received well over five awards for his heroism. However, the recognition came at a cost when he was disabled during an explosion in Afghanistan. During that same time, his wife was at home dealing with one child’s open heart surgery and another child’s autism diagnosis.

“All three of my boys have learning disabilities and two of them are autistic,” said Stephanie Drake, Christophers wife.

2009 was a life-changing year in many ways for the Drake family.

“Not being able to work, um, having, having injuries that I suffer with every day,” said Christopher.

Christopher became a Purple Heart veteran, as Stephanie became his full-time caretaker,
all while dealing with several young children at home.

“Sometimes it’s a lot of stress, I ain’t gonna lie. With his PTSD, TBI, and his issues… I have to care for him, and sometimes I feel like I have six children, not five,” said Stephanie.

With so much to juggle, Stephanie says they never leave the house. That’s why Cars 4 Heroes stepped in to get this family a new set of wheels that meets their wide range of needs.

“Chris has quite a military history to include a Purple Heart, and many of his awards were he had multiple times. So he was really a true hero, I mean. And when you meet the families like Stephanie, the whole family serves when they go,” said Terry Franz, the Cars 4 Heroes founder.

Cars 4 Heroes gets over 15,000 applications a year. So, when the non-profit chose the Drake family, they said they couldn’t believe it.

“I wasn’t really expecting to hear anything back, and then a couple weeks later, we get a phone call,” said Christopher.

Thanks to Shamrock Roofing sponsoring the entire car, the family now has a new way to get around and explore.

“You know, try to do more since I’ll be able to take some of my equipment with me to do stuff, give us a chance to get more out there and into the community and do more stuff,” said Christopher.

Christopher and Stephanie’s biggest takeaway: support our veterans and the non-profits that serve them, and don’t give up if you need help.

“If you don’t know the answer, go online, look stuff up, look up ‘organization that will help veterans’ or other stuff you need, and start doing applications, and start trying to get what you need,” said Stephanie.

Cars 4 Heroes says it’s always looking for donated cars, even if they’re not drivable. The organization also encourages all veterans in need to apply for a car.