TAMPA, Fla. (KDKA) – Alexis Vitale of Peters Township learned that her husband, Marine Corporal Doug Vitale, had stepped on an explosive device while on patrol in Afghanistan.

“And he had received two amputations at the time,” she says. “Both of his legs. I didn’t think it could get much worse than that. And then it was three days later we had heard that he suffered strokes on two sides of his brain.”

The couple has been inseparable since Doug entered a rehabilitation center in Tampa.

“He’s always giving me a hard time,” Alexis says. “He’s just full of humor. Everything is just fun for him. He’s happy. There’s really nothing more important than that.”

Back home in Peters, her mother, Denise Abraham, has teamed up with a VFW post to promote a fund raising walk on the Warrior Trail. The Hero Walk will raise funds for a specially designed “smart house” for the couple, somewhere in the Pittsburgh area.

“Your family and your friends doing so much for you,” Alexis says, “and a community backing them up and just supporting you. It feels really great.”

The Hero Walk steps off at 9 a.m. at VFW Post 764 in McMurray. A lunch at noon follows. For more information, call 724-941-3358 or e-mail dougvfw764@hotmail.com.

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