Invictus Games: 'We’re coming out on top despite the odds'

Invictus stars get inspiration from comrades who weren’t so lucky
Extraordinary: Martin Bayfield with Invictus Games competitors (Picture: Glenn Copus)
Lizzie Edmonds @lizzieedmo3 September 2014

Former servicemen competing in next week’s Invictus Games today told how they hoped to inspire people across the capital to take up sport.

Former Royal Engineer search adviser Craig Gadd, 41, from Hull, lost his left leg above the knee after standing on an IED.

He said: “Everyone can be a sportsman no matter what disabilities they have or not. There is no excuse.

“We are just a bunch of normal lads who have made the best of a bad situation. We got dealt a rough hand and are coming out on top despite the odds. I hope that gets through to people and they realise what can be achieved if you put your mind to it.”

Mr Gadd, pictured below, and his fellow British Invictus team members were speaking at BT Centre as part of the build-up to the games. BT is one of a number of games sponsors — including Land Rover and Jaguar.

The games, founded and championed by Prince Harry, will take place from September 10-14 at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

More than 400 athletes — all former military personnel injured on service — from 13 nations will take part.

All the British group said they draw inspiration from other wounded servicemen — adding they know they are lucky to be alive.

Mr Gadd said: “We are the fortunate ones. There are so many people who are less lucky than us. There is always someone worse off than you. In the dark moment you have to remember that. I am inspired by these guys next to me and my team-mates and others who may spend the rest of their lives in a hospital.

“I know all of us agree we wouldn’t be here without our families. My wife, Dolly, had a rough time following the blast. She was three months pregnant and her father passed after our daughter was born. She stuck by me and I couldn’t have done it without her.”

Martin Bayfield, the former England rugby union player who compered the event, said: “These men are the spirit of the Games. They will go head to head with people they fought with and struggled with. They have dusted themselves down and they are now competing for their country. They are extraordinary.”

Meet the stars

Andy Grant (Picture: Glenn Copus)

Andy Grant, 26:

The Liverpudlian lost his left leg below the knee in Afghanistan. He said he felt “depressed” and “ashamed” of how little he achieved before he was injured.

Mr Grant, who wants to break the world record for the 10,000m, said: “When you first wake up it takes a while to realise what’s happened. A surgeon comes and tells you you have 30 or 40 injuries and your world falls apart.

“But then you realise you just have to get on with it. I am achieving far more than I ever thought was possible. I look back at my old life and I am ashamed at what I took for granted. It makes me depressed.”

Luke Darlington, 25: Sustained a brain injury while serving as a marine in Afghanistan and still has a piece of shrapnel lodged in the right side of his brain. The cyclist spoke of the benefits of sport, adding: “Sport has had a massive impact on my life.

“My injury is a mental one — one that people don’t necessarily understand as they can’t see it.

“But sport helps you realise you can do things. It makes you realise, ‘okay, maybe I am not so good at certain things any more, but I can be really good at this’.”

Mr Darlington, from Herefordshire, added: “My injury has changed my life for the better. I was in a wheelchair a few years ago and now I am competing for my country. How cool is that?”

Paul Vice (Picture: Glenn Copus)

Paul Vice, 31:

Critically injured while on foot patrol in Afghanistan, when a bomb blast severed his carotid artery, causing brain damage and loss of function in his right hand and left foot.

Mr Vice, from Exeter, who received the Military Cross, said: “I feel guilty when I look back about how I was before.

“It annoys me when people moan about menial things. I think: ‘stop moaning. Look what could happen to you. Get on with it’.”

John James Chalmers, 26: Serving in Helmand Province as a marine reservist when he was injured by a bomb. Had extensive surgery on his legs and arms, losing two fingers, and facial reconstruction surgery.

The cyclist, from Edinburgh, said: “If just one person sees us in our events next week and is inspired that will be enough for me. Not just people with disabilities but everyone in London and across the country.

“I hope they come along and want to get involved in sport and realise what they can do.”

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