Iraq War vet hit by car dies from injuries

Iraq War vet hit by car dies from injuries
Originally published: January 5, 2012
By CHAU LAM

Photo credit: Handout | An undated handout photo of Sean Lapersonerie who was struck by a motorist while crossing East Main Street in Babylon Village on New Year's Eve.

He served two years in Iraq as a heavy field artillery operator in the Army. While there, he saw a good friend cut down by a sniper just a few feet away and later came home with post-traumatic stress disorder.

But Sean Lapersonerie survived it all.

Then on New Year's Eve, the 24-year-old Copiague man was hit by a car while crossing East Main Street in Babylon Village with his girlfriend. And Thursday he was declared brain-dead, said his mother, Marie Lapersonerie, 49, also of Copiague.

"He had a heart of gold," said his mother. "He was the type of guy who would give the shirt off his back for anyone. He was so selfless."

While he was in Iraq, between 2008 and 2010, Lapersonerie had his family purchase and send children's clothes to him, which he gave to Iraqi children, his family said.
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