ORANGE PARK, Fla. – An Orange Park U.S. Army veteran is heading to the Super Bowl in what she called the surprise of a lifetime.
Lisa Crutch was already in Arizona, but going to the big game was not in her plans.
She is an ambassador for the Wounded Warrior Project and was there this week to do some interviews, but little did Crutch know she would have one unexpected interview that would change her life.
During the interview, Crutch was surprised with a pair of tickets to the Super Bowl.
She compared it to winning the lottery.
“I am going to the Super Bowl,” Crutch said after getting the tickets as the moment sank in. “Like I am going to the Super Bowl. I, Lisa Crutch, I am going to the Super Bowl.”
Crutch is a diehard Eagles fan. She has been supporting the team since the days of dynamic quarterback Donovan McNabb.
To top things off, she will get to see her favorite team try to bring home the Lombardi Trophy against the Kansas City Chiefs.
“I am never going to forget this,” Crutch said. “I do not think anything else in this life is going to top this.”
Crutch has spent most of her life giving to others.
She served in the U.S. Army for eight years. Crutch spent a year and half deployed in Iraq.
In 2004, she suffered a traumatic brain injury and PTSD while in combat.
Crutch also lost her sense of smell in an accident when her head hit a windshield.
Crutch later joined the Wounded Warrior Project in 2009, becoming an advocate to help other veterans with life after service.
Now, Crutch is on the receiving end of goodwill.
Along with the Super Bowl tickets, she got a surprise phone call from tight end Zach Ertz, a former Philadelphia Eagle currently playing for the Arizona Cardinals.
Ertz thanked Crutch for her sacrifice.
“I’m thankful for everything you and your family have done for us and this country,” Ertz said. “I will never take that for granted.”
Crutch said the unexpected gift has inspired her.
“I have to do more for my fellow soldiers,” she said. “I have to do more for the Wounded Warrior Project. I have to do more because the gift that I have been given is just motivating me to continue to do this work so that I can make sure the other Warriors are never ever forgotten.”
Crutch is ready to cheer her squad to a sweet victory.