BUFFALO, NY-- Mark O'Brien has been working as a 911 dispatcher for the Erie County Sheriff's Department for about two years now.
Mark's brother and father both worked as deputies, so it wasn't really surprising that Mark followed them into the department.
What is surprising, really what remarkable, is the path that Mark took to get there.
Mark types on his computer one handed. And you'll notice a slight limp when he walks.
There's a good reason for both.
Back in 2004, Mark was a 21-year-old Marine, serving a second tour of duty in Iraq.
Mark O'Brien: "It was a totally different war the second time I was back. It was like everyday we got shot at, I was there 68 days and 68 days we got shot at.
And it was on that 68th day, November 8, 2004, when Mark's unit was part of a sweep searching a city for weapons, when they came under heavy fire.
Mark was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Mark O'Brien: "It felt like I got hit in the head with a baseball bat. I woke up and I was on fire, I went to put out the fire and I noticed my arm was shattered, and I looked down and my leg was basically gone.
"When I saw my leg, I thought I was dead, I didn't even want to live, right then I was like I don't want to live. I just didn't think I could live with an amputation.
"I was telling them just let me bleed out, let me bleed out, just let me be. And obviously they wouldn't, they were working on me."
Scott Brown: "What kind of thoughts are going through your head?"
Mark O'Brien: "I just thought this was it, this was it right here, and I thought I was like a huge failure, I was just laying there in a big pool of blood and I thought this is it, this is how my life is going to end."
Mark's life did not end on that street in Iraq, but it certainly did change. And in one aspect, believe it or not, it actually changed for the better and we'll get to that part of our story in just a minute.
After being stabilized overseas, Mark was flown back home to Bethesda Naval Hospital.
Mark O'Brien: "I remember I woke up and saw my arm was gone, I knew my leg was gone because it was cut right off, but I didn't know I was going to lose my arm."
Scott Brown: "When you saw your arm was gone and now you realize you're a double amputee what were you thinking then?"
Mark O'Brien: "I was disappointed to know my arm was gone, but also when I woke up, my parents were standing there, so I was just happy to see my parents."
Mark couldn't speak because he had a tube in his throat to help him breathe, but he could write.
And what he wrote that day after learning he had lost both his right arm and right leg was this:
"I have no regrets. When it hit, I felt like God was shielding me."
Michelle Pierce was one of Mark's best friends from Iroquois High School. Michelle and Mark had kept in touch when Mark was in the service.
Mark O'Brien: "When I was stateside, we would call each other and when I was overseas we would write each other."
Michelle got a phone call shortly after Mark was wounded.
Michelle O'Brien: "It was the scariest feeling in the whole world, and I didn't even know what to do, I was in shock, I just remember crying."
Mark O'Brien: "The first two weeks I could barely even move, it took me a couple of days before I could even sit up and get in a wheelchair. I could barely stand on my one leg, and then it was physical therapy from there to strengthen myself up."
During this whole time, Mark and Michelle stayed in touch through phone calls and e-mails.
Michelle O'Brien: "What was really nice was that he was so upbeat and positive throughout the whole thing."
And it was during this time, that things between Mark and Michelle began to change.
Michelle O'Brien: "I just wanted to let him know that my feelings were deeper than our friendship and if they weren't, I was hoping it didn't ruin anything."
Mark O'Brien: "I think she actually wrote me an e-mail and I said 'oh, that's pretty cool.'"
Michelle O'Brien: "I couldn't do it in person I was too nervous!"
And so although Mark had lost an arm and a leg, he gained something else.
Scott Brown: "How far into the relationship did each of you know that this was it?"
Michelle O'Brien: A couple of months, I think we had started dating in April and by July he had asked me to marry him and it was not even a question of what I was going to do, it was just an instant yes."
Mark was released from rehab and came back home about a month later. Less than a year after that, Mark and Michelle were married.
Scott Brown: "The fact that he was injured didn't bother you obviously?"
Michelle O'Brien: "Not at all, not in the least bit. He's still the same person to me, it wasn't whether he was injured or not, it was Mark, didn't bother me in the least bit, still doesn't."
Their son Jack was born about a year after the couple married, and baby Nathan is now 10 months old.
Before joining the service, Mark was majoring in Criminal Justice at Erie Community College and had plans to become a police officer.
Obviously, that all changed with Mark's injuries.
Scott Brown: "I'm assuming you could have had a full disability and never worked a day in your life."
Mark O'Brien: "Yeah right, I could claim disability from the state and they would pay for my disability and my health care. There was a brief period where I wasn't doing anything, I would just sit at home all day and I can't do that, can't sit home, that's not me I can't do that. I'm able to work, so I'm going to go work."
And so, that's how Mark O'Brien, the one handed typist, wound up working as a dispatcher.
Scott Brown: "Just tell me what you like about the job?"
Mark O'Brien: "Obviously I can't be a police officer, so this is kind of my way of being part of it. This is my way of helping people and I like the excitement of the job."
Scott Brown: "When you hear about somebody who supposedly has a back problem and is out on disability, what do you think of those type of people?"
Mark O'Brien: "I just think that they're lazy, they're taking advantage of the system and I could never live with myself by doing that, I just couldn't do it."
Mark O'Brien doesn't want any pity, doesn't want any disability payments from the state, and he has no regrets about going to war.
It's not too often that you hear a guy who's lost an arm and a leg say he's lucky, but that's exactly how Mark O'Brien feels these days.
Mark O'Brien: "There's a whole life to live, and life doesn't end with losing a limb,
"I'm alive and I have a beautiful family, I'm just happy."