It’s ‘Game on Down Under’ this year as The Invictus Games take place from 20-27 October in Sydney, Australia.

This year marks the fourth Invictus Games which will see hundreds of men and women compete for gold.
Invictus Games is an international multi-sport event that was founded by Prince Harry. Wounded, injured or sick armed services personnel and veterans take on a variety of sports including sitting volleyball, hand bike, wheelchair basketball, powerlifting and many more!

Invictus was aptly named as it is Latin for ‘unconquered’ or ‘undefeated’, words that truly reflect the resilient men and women who compete within the tournaments. Pride of Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity and patient advocate for Fisher House, Dave Watson was one of the successful Brits to take home two silver medals, he competed in Men’s IR1 Four Minute Endurance and Men’s IR1 One Minute Sprint.  Dave joined the Army in 2008 and served in the Scots Guards. During a tour of Afghanistan in 2010, Dave stepped on an improvised explosive device and lost both his legs and his right arm.

During his recovery, Dave spent time at Fisher House, known as ‘the home away from home’ for military patients and their families at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. Fisher House opened in 2013 and is an 18 bedroom house where the families of service people having treatment at QEHB can stay for free, allowing them to be close to their loved one at the hospital.

Dave’s time at Fisher House inspired him to stay on as a patient advocate at QEHB Charity, where he meets patients who have had similar experiences to him. The Charity is extremely proud of Dave’s achievement and cannot wait to hear all about the games when he returns!

Similarly, former soldier, Pa Modou Njie tragically stepped on an IED bomb whilst on patrol in Helmand Province, Afghanistan in 2010. Sadly, Pa lost both his legs and was discharged in 2012. At 24 years of age, he received intensive rehabilitation at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham who aided towards his recovery. This year, in Pa’s first ever Invictus Games he is taking home gold in the Sitting Volleyball (pool C) event. Despite his life-changing injuries, Pa has shown extreme determination and resilience which is epitomised by his gold medal, congratulations Pa.

Dr Munjed Al Muderis, an orthopaedic surgeon based in Sydney helped to treat Michael Swain in 2014 after both his legs were blown off by a bomb blast while serving with 3rd Battalion The Rifles in Helman province, Afghanistan. Dr Muderis created revolutionary prosthetics for Michael; he became the first British soldier to have an ‘osseointegration’ procedure. This ground-breaking procedure involves an artificial titanium implant directly fitted into the bone, minimising the discomfort from a traditional prosthetic.

Since then, Dr Muderis has supervised several similar operations at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, to ensure that individuals such as Michael are able to have a better quality of life and drastically improve their mobility.

If you were inspired by the Invictus Games athletes, please donate to Fisher House and help support the patients and their families here

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