The Invictus Games, which sees wounded, injured and ill servicemen and women
compete in 11 medal sports, took place in Sydney in November 2018.
Triumphant team UK
But the Invictus Games are not just about the incredible competitors who
have overcome life changing injuries, they are also a chance to recognise and
thank family and friends who have been behind the scenes supporting their
competitor every step of the way.
1 9 6
Team Hewitt
Army veteran Ryan Hewitt was injured whilst on operations in 2010 and was medically discharged from the army four years later.
Taking part in the Invictus Games for the first time in 2018, Ryan was part of the wheelchair basketball team and incredibly brought home a bronze medal.
Ryan’s friends Jason Palmer and his wife Melanie went to Sydney to support him and saw him win his bronze medal.
“The games were absolutely fantastic, what an amazing experience, it was absolutely unbelievable,” Jason said.
Ryan and Jason met in January 2010 when they were undertaking pre-deployment training before embarking on a tour of Afghanistan. They struck up a close friendship as they were both new to the platoon and
were going to be in the same section for the whole tour.
“Ryan’s 26 and I’m 44, and basically the first words that Ryan ever uttered
to me when we first met were you’re old enough to be my dad and he was right I
was old enough to be his dad and that’s how we struck up that friendship,”
Jason said.
It was on a foot patrol together when Ryan was injured. Along with a medic
Jason stabilised Ryan and helped to get him evacuated from the incident.
Jason then didn't see Ryan again until a few months later after Jason himself got
injured and was sent to Headley Court as part of his rehabilitation, where
Ryan had also been sent for rehab.
“I saw Ryan again in Headley Court and we just immediately re struck up that
bond that we’d had.”
While Ryan’s recovery started off well, after he was medically discharged in
2014 he said that he became isolated, couldn’t function normally and even
became wheelchair bound after he stopped using his prosthetic legs.
Following his discharge Ryan confided in Jason that he wasn’t having a great
transition back into civilian life and eventually moved from Scotland to North
Wales to be near Jason and his family.
He took to it like a duck to water
“He just took to that like a duck to water and basically just flew with it,” Jason said.
“As soon as he actually got into the wheelchair for the first time you could see the confidence come back into him and when his confidence came back, a little bit of the old Ryan and the old attitude that came back as well.”
“It was just so good to see that using sport as a method of recovery, he had not lost that from being back at Headley Court. But it’s just that he had a period where nothing had happened for him and nothing had fallen into place.
"So to see that glint back in his eye was amazing.”
“It’s just little things like that really, because when you actually know someone intimately in terms of the way that their personal demeanor is and their personal issues that they’ve got, to see that turn on its head is absolutely amazing. And the confidence that it gives him as well, it’s absolutely great,” Jason added.
It was Jason and his wife that encouraged Ryan to apply for the Invictus Games and it was for that and all their support in his recovery that Ryan wanted to take them with him to Sydney.
Jason explained that seeing the difference in Ryan from the beginning of the games, where he was quite shy and reserved, to see him then at the end of the games was vast.
“His attitude and demeanor had just completely changed, he was just so positive,” he said.
“Literally the day after the closing ceremony he signed up for Sheffield,
and for the trials for Invictus 2020.”
“I think that’s one of the things that the Invictus Games actually does for
people, it takes them from a point where they might have had a period between
rehab or injury or illness when they’ve actually gone back into their shells,
and then it of brings them back out of their shells again.
“It reinvigorates them and it gives them that additional push to go and do
something different or just try and do the best that they can at whatever they
are trying to do.”
Team McClellan
Former Sergeant Alexandra McClellan, 37, suffered a stroke in 2012 and was
discharged from the army in 2014.
In 2018 she took part in the Invictus Games competing in athletics, cycling
and rowing events and amazingly brought home a silver medal in the Women’s
4x100m Relay.
Her father Pete and brother James were with her in Sydney cheering her on
and saw her win her medal.
“Seeing Alex get the Silver medal was just the best thing that’s happened in
a long time; she’s an absolute legend,” Pete said.
Having almost fully recovered, Alexandra now works as a trauma nurse in
Derryford Hospital in Plymouth.
Pete was himself in the army, so Alexandra grew up in army houses and was
used to the military way of life.
“I joined the army in 1974 and left two years ago so pretty much all my life
has been in the army and so when Alex joined it wasn’t really anything that was
new to her,” Pete said.
“Being discharged from the army you’re sort of almost being told that you
are no longer of use, and I think to fight against that and get back to where
she is at the moment when the cards are stacked against you just showed an
amazing amount of determination and I’m just really proud of her.”
Desire to succeed
Being at the games Pete explained that he found it quite a cathartic experience in an “unexpected sort of way because everybody was so nice.”
“It was nice to go to an event where there is absolutely no cynicism at all,
no gamesmanship or anything like that…everybody just looked out for everybody
else and that was really heartening,” he said.
“For my daughter Alex I think it just gave her that chance to be part of a
team with the same sort of people as herself once again having left the army.” “There
were some real inspiring performances from everybody,” Pete added. “And we
learnt about ourselves too, your own attitudes to people who are less able than
yourself.”
Inspired by the Games
“I think it [the games] achieved its aims in spades more than anything else
and it impressed me so much that there are interim games in Sheffield next year (2019) and I’m going to volunteer to help with that and maybe if that goes well I’ll
go to The Hague and I’ll volunteer to work at that too.”
“As a family, we just had the best time during the games, coming closer
together as a result.”
.jpg?sfvrsn=acb3c3e8_4&method=CropCropArguments&width=452&height=452 "Reparation Island casts - Bravo 22")