F e a t u r e s
BATTLE BACK
“I realised I had lost my leg while I was being handed over to the Immediate Reaction Team on the Chinook helicopter. I was in a very serious condition and they feared for my life.” Two impressive guys tell their story…
LANCE CORPORAL RORY MACKENZIE “Deployed to Basra, Iraq, my role as a Combat Medical Technician was quite simple: help the wounded to the best of my abilities without getting wounded in the process! Things didn't quite work out that way. Three months into a six month tour, our routine early morning patrol was contacted by a well placed roadside bomb. The device detonated with deadly precision. It penetrated our vehicle and tore through my right buttock, up through my leg, exiting through my knee and finally stopping in the chest of the soldier sitting not more than a meter away from me. He died instantly while fast asleep.
“I realised I had lost my leg while I was being handed over to the Immediate Reaction Team on the Chinook helicopter. I was in a very serious condition and they feared for my life. I required a sixteen hour operation to stabilise my wounds. The remnants of my limb were reshaped and cleaned up to the best of their ability and the next day I was flown to Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham.
“Whilst there, I had seven further operations, contracted MRSA, and grew weaker day
6 Winter 2008
by day. With a fantastic diet provided by my mother and a horrible broccoli drink by my brother, I eventually broke the cycle of decline and started to show signs of recovery. By now my girlfriend, Storm, had flown over from South Africa and spent every bit of daylight by my side caring for me. I got better, stronger, and was ready to move on to Headley Court.
“After a further seven months and many, many hours in the prosthetics department, I had made a complete physical recovery. I was walking again; not gracefully but walking nevertheless. By now what had happened to me had sunk in and I believed I was no longer the person I was before the bomb detonated. I had become aggressive, angry and upset at the hand which had been dealt to me. I was healthy and strong but angry at the fact that my sports and extreme lifestyle was ruined! I had created in my mind a long list of all the things I would never do again.
“It was at this time that I received an invitation via Help for Heroes to go adaptive skiing in Bavaria, Germany, under a new military programme called Battle Back. I didn't waste a second and jumped at the opportunity. I had no idea what to expect or what I was actually getting myself into. Now as a South African you don't put skiing
at the top of your 'to do' list, so I was rather apprehensive about the whole thing. Within five minutes of the initial brief I was at ease, I knew this was going to be HEALING. We were all kitted out with the correct length skis or in some cases like myself, SKI!
“Then it was straight to the slopes where I took to the sport with ease. I spent my fair share of time on my bum as any beginner would, but by day three I was being told off by the boss for shooting ahead. It was in my blood now; it gave me freedom like I thought I would never feel again. The speed, thrill and excitement of the sport, I believe, literally healed my frame of mind overnight. I no longer had a list of all the things I couldn't do; I now had a long list of all the things I could potentially do! I came off those slopes a different person, with a completely different frame of mind towards my own life and my future.
“When skiing, the freedom and exhilaration allow me to forget about my disability, and give me confidence to approach the rest of my life with a genuinely positive outlook. It has given me a future where I now believe I can succeed in what ever I put my mind to. Anything is possible!”
SGT IAN HARVEY RAF
“Injury left me partially paralysed from the chest down; I had altered sensation, reduced strength and balance, high muscle tone and spasms. The spinal injury I sustained from the motorbike accident meant I spent three months in a Spinal Unit before transferring to Headley Court for further rehabilitation where I have spent most of the last year.
“In March, I was fortunate enough to attend Exercise Snow Warrior, the first Battle Back initiative. This was the first opportunity, post injury, I had to undertake a physically arduous activity similar to that of an able bodied person. I can honestly say that learning to ski in the Bavarian Alps was as enjoyable as any able bodied sport and, considering the circumstances, more rewarding.
“Since then, I have water-skied and attended ‘Timmy’s Paddle’ a canoe expedition with Battle Back. The physical benefit of these activities is clear, allowing remedial exercises to be conducted in a real life setting without the repetitive nature of a gym. To quantify this, sit skiing has increased my core stability
www.raf-families-federation.org.uk
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