A hero’s welcome, a dinner held in his honor and a great story to tell.

Army Cpl. Heath Kirk of Lorain, who lost a leg in Afghanistan in the fall of 2009, never wanted any of that when he enlisted in the Army and was sent to a war overseas. Like the thousands of soldiers who came before him, Kirk simply wanted to serve his country.

But that changed when a rocket-propelled grenade was launched at his military Hummer on a dark city road in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. The attack cost Kirk his right leg and almost cost him his left.

Beyond family and close friends, few people knew the story of how Kirk was injured in Afghanistan. Days after the horrific attack on his convoy, media reports said only that Kirk was the most severely injured of those in the convoy.

For the first time since losing his leg, Kirk publicly told his story at a reception held Saturday in his honor at American Legion Post 397 in Vermilion.

But the reception was just the final part of his hero’s welcome.

A motorcade-style ride with Kirk in a limousine began the festivities with a route that took him through the Lorain neighborhood where he lived and past his alma mater Southview High School.

He passed dozens of people who, despite the rainy weather, wanted to welcome him home.

“It brings tears to my eyes every time,” said Debbie Talbott, owner of American Elegance Limousines and founder of the Ride with Honor Foundation, which donates limousine rides to local veterans coming home from war. “It’s amazing to be a part of the celebration of their lives.”

The ride to Vermilion set the stage for Kirk’s emotional storytelling.

“I would love it if every young man coming home came here and told us what they did,” said Russ Mayer, commander of American Legion Post 397. “When our soldiers come home, we have to support them because they put their lives on the line for our freedoms.”

Kirk was calm as he stood – unassisted – before the group of about 200 people.

He smiled and told a few jokes, showing off his playful personality in front of the quiet group that had all eyes fixed on him.

“My story has not been told yet, but I’m going to tell it now,” he said. “This is the first time I have been home since leaving for the Army on Nov. 17, 2007.”

Fast forward to Sept. 24, 2009, when Kirk said he was in Jalalabad driving one of four military Hummers on a mission to deliver supplies. The group of about 20 soldiers had just finished its last run and, instead of staying, decided to return to home base.

At first, the return trip was uneventful.

But something odd struck everyone as they traveled through the city, Kirk said.

“It was dark and quiet. That was very unusual,” he said. “We had been there before, and normally people were out, games were going on and people were talking.”

All of a sudden, the quiet was broken by a loud flash and a bang.

Kirk said he could hear screams that they were under attack.

“All my buddies are shooting like crazy and I just realized I couldn’t get out of the truck,” he said. “I looked down and both my legs were gone.”

In the middle of the fire fight, Kirk said he climbed into the back of the Hummer, which by now was a blazing inferno. He was oblivious to his pain, but knew one thing.

“All I could remember thinking was, ‘I’m not ready to die,’ ” he said.

Out of nowhere, his lieutenant blindly reached into the burning Hummer, grabbed Kirk and threw the badly wounded soldier into a ditch.

It was there in the dirty ditch on the side of the road where Kirk received his first care. While eight other soldiers were fighting for their lives, Kirk said others were busy tying tourniquets around his legs to stop the massive bleeding.

There was no morphine to give him because it was burning in the vehicle.

Moments later, another vehicle arrived and Kirk was taken to another base.

What happened next is a blurry mix of emergency surgeries, high doses of morphine and travel to a hospital in Germany. Kirk said he doesn’t really know how much time passed before the explosion and his arrival in Germany.

He remembers waking up about two weeks later in a hospital bed with a white sheet pulled up to his neck. He said he asked a nurse if he should look and she said, “It’s not pretty, but you are alive.”

“So I just ripped the sheet back and saw that my right leg was gone above the knee and my left leg was nearly blown off,” he said.

His next stop was a military hospital in San Antonio. There, Kirk said doctors presented him with a choice: experimental surgery to reconstruct the left leg, which came with a 30 percent chance of success, or losing that leg as well.

Kirk chose to gamble on himself. And, even though doctors at first thought the surgery was a failure, Kirk gambled on himself again when days later he urged them not to remove his left leg.

The experimental surgery included replacing his femur with a titanium and carbon fiber rod. His thigh muscles are transplants.

He has undergone extensive rehabilitation, which is not done yet. He has no feeling in his right hand and only 60 percent feeling in his left. On Tuesday, Kirk will return to San Antonio to continue rehab.

But on Saturday, none of that mattered. Kirk was home with family and enjoying a party.

“I don’t care about any of it. I’m happy,” he said to the crowd. “You guys couldn’t do anything better than this for somebody like me. I love you all for being here.”

With that, the crowd erupted into applause and Kirk promised not to stay away from home too long.

Then probably the most touching moment of the evening took place – one which last fall seemed almost impossible to imagine.

Gidget Roark grabbed her son’s hand as Celine Dion’s “Because You Loved Me” began playing.

And the two danced – Roark with her head resting on her son’s chest and Kirk taking each step to lead him and his mom through the dance.

Contact Lisa Roberson at 329-7121 or lroberson@chroniclet.com.

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