HELPING HEROES
Battle back W
hen first confronting the reality of a disability, many people experience a loss of
confidence, depression and believe that their active life is over once and for all. These problems, encountered by our
injured personnel, are being addressed by the team at the Defence Medical Reha- bilitation Centre, Headley Court. ‘Battle Back’ is a programme which encourages members of the Armed Forces, who have been injured either on or off duty, to par- ticipate in adventurous training activities and sports as part of their rehabilitation. The use of sport or outdoor activi-
ties has a proven track record in aiding successful physical and psychological rehabilitation. In particular adventurous training (AT) and sport offer significant opportunities during the latter stages of rehabilitation and beyond, to help re-integration and confidence-building for wounded service personnel.
Battle Back: key aims • Identify, facilitate and encourage par- ticipation in AT and sport by wounded service personnel.
• Develop and strengthen relationships with all relevant service charities and disabled governing bodies, facilitating appropriate advice to wounded service personnel and their families regarding all AT and sport activities.
• Identify talented disabled service personnel and facilitate access to elite sporting opportunities and challenging expeditions.
In July 2009, a team of injured military personnel on the Battle Back scheme successfully swam an epic 21-mile relay race across the English Channel. Leaving
The highly successful rehabilitation initiative ‘Battle Back’ engages injured servicemen and women in adventurous training and sporting events to help them return to an active and energetic life. Here are some of their remarkable stories. BY SAMANTHA NEWMAN
Corporal Blaney in training for the cross-Channel swim
You can’t lie around feeling sorry for yourself, you’ve got to do these things – Corporal Scott Blaney
from Shakespeare Beach in Dover, the team took turns swimming sections of an arduous race to Cape Griz in France against tough competition from the Royal Navy, the Army, the RAF and the Wales University Officer Training Corps. Amongst those taking part was Cor- poral Scott Blaney from the Grenadier
Guards (pictured), who was hit by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Af- ghanistan in 2007 whilst on a foot patrol to clear out compounds. Corporal Blaney says: ‘You can’t lie
around feeling sorry for yourself, you’ve got to do these things. Yeah, I’ve got a prosthetic leg and I’m classed as disabled,
www.armedforcesday.org.uk SHOW YOUR SUPPORT 93
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