Countdown to the Invictus Games: Meet the Warriors Invictus Games

A little over a year ago, I went to America and I stole an idea,

a sports event for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women.

This week, that idea becomes a reality,

the first ever Invictus Games.

It's not about the rights or wrongs of war, it's about people who have

served their country and are now rebuilding their lives.

It's about survival in the face of adversity

and the strength of the human spirit.

This programme follows the stories of a few

but mirrors the experiences of many.

JJ Chalmers...

..Dave Henson...

..Paul Vice...

..and Mike Goody.

Like many, they have suffered life-changing injuries

while serving with the British Armed Forces.

This is their story, as they prepare for the Invictus Games.

Captain Dave Henson has just finished being interviewed.

He's now off to meet the Prime Minister at Number 10.

He's going to talk about the Government's commitment to the

Invictus Games.

Four years ago, Dave was in the British Army,

on his first tour of Afghanistan.

Then, as for many others in the Armed Services,

his life changed forever.

There was no sort of awareness of being up in the air, there was

no awareness of standing on an IED.

You see it in a Hollywood movie that, you know, if someone stands on a mine

or goes through a minefield,

they hear the click and then the camera pans back to their face

and there's a sort of feeling of "Oh, shit,"

on their face, and, you know, they realise that they've stood on a mine,

and every now and then in one of the movies one of the guys will

manage to jump out of the way before it goes off,

but in reality there was no click for

me, there was no second's warning,

no chance to jump out of the way,

anything like that. It was...

I was walking back,

and then I was on the floor and my legs were in pieces.

You know instantly that life has changed.

London is about to host the first ever Invictus Games,

the brainchild of Prince Harry.

The inspiration for me started back in 2007-2008,

when I shared a plane journey back to the UK with two or three

injured service personnel,

and sadly also a Danish soldier that was in a coffin below us.

For me, that Invictus spirit

that they had as they were lying there,

young lads, 21, 22 years old with tubes coming out of them,

really was an eye-opener for me,

and that's when I really decided that, you know,

it should be my responsibility to do as much as I can, seeing that

I've shared similar experiences to

them, but luckily not the injuries.

In May last year, looking for inspiration,

Prince Harry visited America's Warrior Games.

A sporting event for American wounded,

injured and sick servicemen and women.

I'm in a very fortunate position, and with that position comes a name,

comes a title, and comes access to all sorts of different areas.

-HOOTER BLARES

-There we go, you're underway!

I've discovered that, you know,

I really can use my position in the right ways, in a very positive way.

We can't forget that the injuries that these boys and girls have

sustained, erm, they've got them for the rest of their lives,

and sport, I know cos I've seen it, will change lives.

The Invictus Games will be a coming together of over 400 competitors

from 13 countries,

to demonstrate the power of sport as a means of rehabilitation.

It's 65 days before the opening ceremony.

Keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going...!

Lance Corporal JJ Chalmers is on a cycle training camp

at Tedworth House.

Come on, come on, come on, come on!

I thought getting blown up was the worst three minutes of my life!

Over the next week, JJ and the other hopefuls will be put

through their paces to prepare them for the British team trials.

In the last three years I've done well at getting back to being normal

and being able to look after myself

and do the sort of things that,

you know, an average human being does.

But not to be too arrogant about it,

but I wasn't an average human being, I was a Royal Marine Commando.

I was capable of a whole lot,

and I've pushed myself to the absolute limit.

-You've got to burst!

-Come on, JJ!

-Go on, burst it! 20 seconds!

-20, last 20, mate.

-Go on, burst the time!

'The Invictus Games is probably the start of my new life.'

2.87. Just, mate, just!

'I'm looking forward to the competition.'

Who knows how I get on? I'm looking forward to taking part.

If I win the thing, incredible, erm, but I know the thing

I'm looking forward to most is being in amongst the lads again.

I have friends who are double and triple amputees.

I have friends that have been shot in the face.

I mean, who has friends like that?

They're normal people, why wouldn't they be?

Er, they're, they're my friends

and I want people to see how incredible they are.

On the 27th of May 2011,

JJ and his colleagues were sent in to

clear a suspected bomb making factory.

An improvised explosive device, or IED,

detonated right in front of them.

JJ's career in the Royal Marines was over,

and his fiancee Cornelia was left to pick up the pieces.

-OK, chop these. Slices.

-Slices?

-Yeah.

This is how this happened!

THEY LAUGH

They kind of told us that his legs are really badly wounded

and the infection might kill him,

that he might lose his right arm, that he lost a couple of fingers,

that he broke his neck and they don't know how bad it is.

And that was the worst day of my life.

My face was caved in,

that was hit by something around the size of half a house brick.

Damaged my whole eye socket, flattened my face.

It was like somebody just battered you with rocks,

all going several hundred miles an hour,

all in the space of a split second, and I was just bludgeoned,

and that's when I brought my hand up and I just looked,

and all my fingers were hanging off.

Three years down the line and JJ is still undergoing rehabilitation.

His injuries have been life changing.

You know, as a Royal Marine, you do everything for yourself,

you know, that's the kind of person you are.

And then you have to accept that you're not going to be able to

do this on your own, and that you're going to need people to,

to not just do stuff for you but to support you,

because you're digging so deep in yourself

you might be getting dangerously low on morale,

erm, so you need to start borrowing other people's

to really get you through it.

All right, come on through.

As for so many servicemen,

the day JJ was blown up will always stay with him.

Although I haven't even worn these things in, like, three years,

erm, it all still hangs there. Why would I keep the constant reminder?

There it is, I mean, it's, it's the camouflage you wear in Afghan,

it's an ISAF badge, why would I keep that constant reminder?

Because I don't want to forget what happened to me.

You know, I wear the visible uniform of an injured serviceman

for the rest of my life.

That's why I never cover this stuff up.

I'm just more than happy to...

You know, I'm not ashamed or embarrassed about this at all.

Erm, I guess I earned these.

But it's not just the visible scars that JJ has to live with,

it's the loss of friends who were caught in the blast alongside him.

You know, one guy next to me lost his leg.

One guy next to me had a scratch on his head.

Two guys next to me died, and I ended up the way I did.

If I could change anything about that day,

it would be the two of my friends that I lost.

If I was able to change one thing it'd be that.

You know, I'd take worse than this, without a shadow of a doubt,

to have them here.

Er, Lieutenant Oliver Augustin, er, was my troop commander.

You know, a young guy, same age as myself,

and couldn't have asked for a better guy to lead us.

I'm just lucky to have known him. I mean...

Sam Alexander, Military Cross, I mean, a Military Cross winner.

Wife, young child. Just a solid, good guy.

I've met the families, you know, of my friends.

All I really want to say to them

is that your sons were incredible

men, your husbands, you know,

your brother, they were just the greatest people.

I'm so honoured to have known them. But...

And I want to say that, but does that

just rub salt in the wounds?

So I'm afraid of it.

JJ will be training for the trials

on a new, specially adapted recumbent bike.

Sport plays a big part in his rehabilitation.

And he intends to live life to the full.

# Who knows what tomorrow will bring

# Maybe sunshine or maybe the rain... #

The biggest thing I need to do with my life is just as much as I can

to have an incredible life.

To realise that I live on borrowed time,

time that I've borrowed from other people.

I need to do good in the world.

And if I ever have a bad day or a moment where

I feel sorry for myself, snap out of it.

Because I'm getting the opportunity to do something

that two amazing people are not getting the opportunity to do.

Rehabilitation through sport is not a new idea.

Come here.

In 1944, a Jewish refugee and neurologist called Ludwig Guttmann

set up the first ever spinal injury centre

for injured World War II veterans.

We started with these soldiers,

in the war, with simple games, first, darts, playing in the ward.

Then we had billiards, and snooker.

And then we started skittles and then I saw, of course,

how these men react, not only physically but psychologically.

He introduced the first Paralympics-type event

off the back of the 1948 London Olympics.

It was held at Stoke Mandeville hospital

and featured one lone sport, archery.

70 years ago, on the battlefields of World War II,

Captain Dave Henson would almost certainly have died

after having both legs blown off.

Today, not only has he survived,

but he's training for the 200m sprint

in the hope of being selected for the team.

Go!

And the training regime is brutal.

22 months after graduating from Sandhurst

as an officer with the Royal Engineers,

Dave Henson was put in charge of six men

and deployed to Afghanistan.

It was his first tour.

I'd say, especially as it got closer to my deployment date,

I was much more excited than nervous.

I felt like I'd been trained

as well as I could have been,

I was ready for the job, my soldiers were ready for the job.

I was very excited.

I think warfare is a very exciting business until it all goes wrong.

On the 13th February, 2011,

Dave and his men were clearing a compound of IEDs,

when he stood on 5kg bomb.

I remember looking down at my legs, and they were just mangled.

They were still attached but they were mangled,

the skin had all spiralled off,

muscle and bone sticking out all over the place.

But my feet were still in my boots at the end of my legs,

which was quite strange, I thought they'd be the first things to...

to go. But they were still in the boots.

And I kind of remember screaming

and then sort of using my hands to push back away from it.

As if I could run away from what was in front of me.

Dave lives at home with his wife Hayley.

Despite his injuries, they still try to live the life they did before.

We used to do it when Dave had legs as well.

I still beat you then!

We used to play a lot together before I got injured.

Sports is one of those things which I miss playing with Hayley,

like we used to play. And I need to get better than Hayley again.

Much better than him!

Dave's mum and dad came round with a couple of the officers

that were delivering the news.

And I just, I was looking at a picture of him

at the time, all in his army gear that he'd taken in Afghanistan.

I just remember feeling so sad for him that he wouldn't be able to swim

and run like he had done before, and do all of those kind of activities.

I probably cried non-stop for that entire 24 hours.

But then after that, when he came back, reality does hit you.

But it was in kind of a good way, he's still here

and we can still have a life together.

So I don't think I've kind of looked back from then.

It's just, what's the next step for us, what are we doing next?

The first moment I saw him in hospital, he was just himself.

He hadn't changed at all.

He was just a little bit shorter, as he said to his mum.

So he's made it completely easy,

He's just...himself, he's just got on with life.

And I just get on with life with him.

Still play basketball, we still go running,

still do everything that we used to do, really.

Yes!

These little legs are called stubbies,

they're just pieces of plastic

which bolt onto the bottom of your socket.

There's no joints in them, there's nothing to break, really.

So these are what I use in the gym.

They are my drinking and dancing legs, as well.

If you have a couple of pints on your big legs,

it becomes very difficult to balance after very, very few beers.

So if I wear these legs out, I can go a bit longer.

And still stand up straight.

Switched onto them after our first dance at our wedding.

-Yeah.

-And then I never saw him the rest of the night,

he was just at the bar. Did a little bit of dancing.

-So it's probably just as well he was on little legs.

-Yeah.

-Then I think we carried you to the room.

-That is a vicious rumour!

'You know, I see round the house, or in everyday life,

'just tiny things that can be difficult.'

Thank you.

You love putting them cereal bowls on the top shelf.

LOW WHISTLE

It's difficult, because he is adjustable with height.

So sometimes he's on his full-length legs

and he can reach everything and sometimes he's on his stubbies.

This is the leg room.

It's where I keep all my different legs and my bits and pieces.

So, I've got my day leg.

These are the ones I wear day-to-day,

hydraulically controlled, microprocessor legs.

These are my running legs.

Some spare feet.

I have drawers and drawers of spare components kicking around.

But it's still not real legs,

regardless of how groovy the attachment looks

when it goes on the bottom. Real legs are awesome.

I get frustrated when I see people not using their legs properly.

Yeah.

They're fantastic pieces of equipment.

I still dream as if I have legs.

In my dreams I'm still running around and jumping and all sorts of stuff.

So, yeah, I miss them every single day.

Go!

Both of Dave's legs were amputated above the knee.

He's running straight-legged,

which puts incredible pressure on his blades.

We've had a catastrophic failure of the running blade. Just snapped.

This is now the fourth broken one. Very frustrating.

The first time I did it, I tried to finish the race,

I was racing at the time. Heard a crack and carried on.

And then actually, the bracket itself just disintegrated

and that was it, landed with my arm stretched out

and popped my shoulder out of joint and popped it back in again.

With only a few weeks left until the team trials,

this is a major setback.

London.

The host city for the 2012 Olympics

is now gearing up for the Invictus Games.

Much better before the surgery. I'm nervous. Elton John's piano.

JJ Chalmers is taking part in a press launch.

So, I will definitely mess things up, I will, because I always do.

CHRIS CLEARS THROAT

PRINCE HARRY CLEARS THROAT, LAUGHS

Prince Harry is joining him on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show.

Good morning, guys.

We're often joined by rock royalty in the studio,

or princesses of pop or even kings of cool,

but it's not often we're joined by actual real royalty.

To tell us about the amazing Invictus Games

taking place between the 10th and 14th of September,

please welcome his Royal Highness Prince Harry.

These guys are a credit to their country.

One moment they're on their back,

they're missing limbs, or they've got injuries to their head

or to their face, body, whatever it is.

To show how they've come from that

to competing in amongst 430 other competitors in the Invictus Games

in London in front of 55,000 people is absolutely incredible.

This is a must-see event.

-Tickets are available now. If you can be there...

-Be there.

LAUGHTER

There are moments when you think, right, tickets will go on sale here,

we'll be sold out in three days, concert wise, make a few phone calls,

write a few letters and we'll have all sorts of people available.

But in reality, it's completely opposite to that.

As I said, you try to enthuse people to watch something

they've never heard of, they don't know what it's about.

It's not just four days of sport, it is the legacy,

it's what's happening before and after, it's the big picture.

And the difference that it's making for everyone taking part in this is huge.

And, yeah, Commonwealth Games, what Commonwealth Games?

It's a nice leg-up for the Invictus Games.

-I'll get in trouble for saying that.

-Yeah, you will.

While Prince Harry is promoting the games,

another Royal Marine is working to secure his place

in the British team.

Corporal Paul Vice, or Vicey to his mates,

is hoping his eye for accuracy

will help him get selected for the archery team.

Although after being blown up by the Taliban

and losing the use of his right arm,

his style is a little unusual.

The reason why I want to do the Invictus Games so much

is because it puts you in a competitive environment,

which is what I've lived in my whole life.

Invictus is my goal at the moment.

Just being part of this so far is great, you know.

It gives you something to get out of bed for and drive on.

It's the day of the archery trials

for Vicey and the other competitors hoping to make the British team.

Vicey had completed two tours of Iraq

and was on his fourth tour of Afghanistan when disaster struck.

It all happened so fast.

People say when they've been in car crashes

everything goes in slow motion.

I totally get it now.

I looked down and followed my eye line to the wall

and I could see an oil drum, a big old rusty oil drum

buried into the bottom of the wall.

In real-time, I saw it, shouted "Run,"

and took one step and bang, that was it.

So you're talking a second, maybe two.

But to me, I looked at it,

and I pieced it together. That's an IED.

There's the trigger point. The two guys there, it's on a command wire.

And I just thought, "Bastards, they've got me, they finally got me."

So I turned and ran, got one step and then, bang, that was it.

And...I thought, "That's it, they've got me, I'm a goner."

Vicey sustained over 400 injuries to his body.

He broke his neck, his carotid artery was 90% severed,

and he suffered brain damage.

Three years on, and he's learning to live with his injuries.

But he's at a clear disadvantage when it comes to archery.

I'd never actually shot a bow and arrow with two hands

so I don't actually know how difficult it is for them.

It's got to be easier, surely, using two hands.

I think they're all cheating.

I'm happy, you know. I do as best as I can.

And halfway through, I'm beating the rest of the Marines, I think,

so I'm happy in my book.

And I'm also definitely winning the mouth-shooting one, definitely.

They're not able to use their whole body to draw the bow and aim.

So it can get quite tricky. But he's making some good progress.

And really, the idea of the competition is that we're not

making any special allowances for anybody,

they've all got to compete equally with everybody else.

It's a tough sport for Vicey to excel in.

And the selectors are looking for the best.

When I was little, growing up, I always looked to my dad,

"What does he do?" Same thing for my children.

I want them to look at me,

and say, you know, "My dad does some pretty amazing stuff."

Vicey is married to Tessa and they have four children.

Oh, no...don't!

His family has been a big part of his recovery.

-Are we good to go?

-No, it's not done.

-Taste it.

-It's not done!

-Done.

-Yeah?

'It is nice that he's around for them more now.

'I think it's taken this long'

for them to build a relationship with Paul because he was never here.

I think it's only in the last couple of years

because he's around more consistently,

and now they're getting older,

it's taken all this time to build a relationship, I think,

so that's really nice.

-What colour is it?

-Silver... Silver, purple and white.

Before he was blown up, Vicey won the Military Cross for bravery

while on tour in Afghanistan.

-It means you fought for your country.

-It does.

He doesn't regret his military career...

Is that all right? Hmm...

..but he and his mates carry the scars of war.

Going across the line, who got injured?

Um... He did - lost a leg.

He did - got shot in the...arm.

Yeah, I mean, it's sad to see, really.

And a lot of these guys aren't in the military any more

because the amount of IEDs...

..has psychologically scarred them for life.

I don't know one person...

I don't know one person who's ever come back from somewhere

with that intense fighting and that amount of stress put on you every day

who hasn't suffered psychologically in some way with it.

It is the invisible scars, you know? They are the most tragic, I suppose.

Tessa says to me most nights, you know,

"God, you were up screaming again last night,"

but I don't remember it.

Vicey's rehabilitation is ongoing

and sport is playing a vital role in his recovery.

# Sometimes you want to get away from your life

# Sometimes you want to get away from... #

His big goal is securing a place on the British team

and competing at the Games.

I'm not here to make up the numbers, I've come here to win.

That's the bottom line. That's the standard I've set myself.

I don't just come to these events, or any sports,

to make up the numbers, and I don't think anybody should,

and I don't think anybody here does either.

# This is my life

# This is my life. #

Dave Henson is also not interested in making up the numbers.

The problems with the brackets on his prosthetic legs

have disrupted his training regime.

He's hoping the fault has been fixed.

I'm nervous about tonight, so I still have some of the same issues.

But, yeah, you do get nervous.

To really test himself and his carbon-fibre legs,

Dave has decided to enter a training race against able-bodied runners.

TRAINER SHOUTS ENCOURAGEMENT

Come on, keep going! Keep going...

No, it's broken.

Broken again.

Cracked there... Cracked there.

That's so frustrating...

Dave may be down, but he's certainly not out.

We need to get all of these mistakes out of the way,

so that's where we are.

My brother and I have been designing a new part.

We've redesigned this part here, and...

I've just sent that off...

I sent it off yesterday to get made by an online company

and that should get delivered on Friday, I think.

So hopefully, as of next week,

as long as my design is all right, it should be...

It should be a little bit more comfortable running at speed

cos I don't think it's going to break then.

For now, training is over.

Dave is heading to Durham to visit his grandfather, Harry -

a partially sighted 82-year-old veteran of the Second World War.

-Hello, David!

-Are you all right?

-Champion.

-Good, good.

Dave's grandfather has always been close to him.

The military ties have given them a special friendship.

I went there to see him receive his medal

from the Army officer in command.

David was in a wheelchair and he said,

"I'm not sitting down to receive me medal,

"I'm going to stand up on me tin legs

"and I'm going to salute the officer like I ought to do."

And he did.

I said, "Do you want me to push you about a bit, David?"

And he said, "Yeah, why not? let's live dangerously!"

So, it was a blind man pushing a legless man!

HARRY LAUGHS

When he was at Sandhurst, I said to him,

"Keep your bloody head down."

That was advice from an ex-serviceman to a new serviceman.

But just 22 months later came the phone call every family dreads.

When the news came over the telephone

that David's legs had been blown off...

I'm not given to shedding tears very readily,

but when that came across, I felt the tears coming up into my eyes

and I had to get down from the table and leave the others

while I went and just came to terms

with that short message that he told me -

"Grandad, I've had me legs blown off" and...

..you can never understand how I really felt.

But it was a hammer blow to me...

And ever since then I've wondered, "How will he get through life?"

He's a young lad, really.

(I'll make some tea.)

I'll make some tea now!

David, I often think,

when I'm thinking about you and those tin legs -

which are a godsend to you -

the stumps that go into the sockets, are they not...

..painful?

The way I describe it is that it feels like

kneeling on stilts that move,

is, I feel like, a good way of describing it

because, you know, I don't have any knee joints any more,

I don't have any ankles any more,

so the way that I move is all as if you would move

if you were just kneeling on the floor

and trying to walk around like that, that's how I move every day.

So it's very...strange.

It only took me a few months to get used to it,

but it's summertime at the minute and the heat is a real problem.

It makes it really, really uncomfortable.

So normally I don't have any pain from the legs whatsoever,

but in the heat you sweat a lot more in the socket

and it can't go anywhere, so it sort of... It starts to rub.

You know, like, if you sweat in your boots...

-Yes.

-..you can get blisters quite easily.

-Hmm.

-But, yeah...

I'm very lucky, I think, to be able to still be walking around.

-Cheerio, David.

-Yeah.

He's an example of what people can do.

David has the attitude that life is yet to come

and I'm very, very proud of him for that.

By taking part in the Invictus Games,

Dave's determined to show his family that despite losing his legs,

he's doing OK.

From my point of view, one of my goals is to show my family

and my friends, "Look, I'm fine.

"There's a different way of doing things now,

"but actually, I'm getting on with life, I'm cracking on

"and I'm even...sprinting 200 metres, which, you know,

"most people wouldn't even dream of without having legs."

But, yeah, I do worry that they worry, if that makes sense?

They needn't.

In London, Prince Harry is meeting the event's organisers.

Top of the agenda is ticket sales.

Sports tickets - we had a real acceleration last week with sales.

So, your Chris Evans moment proved to be a real hit with the public,

we got a lot of engagements following that.

Um... We've still got 23,000 tickets to sell, it is a concern,

but we also know that 23,000 tickets can go in an instant.

Over the four-day event,

55,000 people are expected through the gates.

And Harry wants to start the Games on a high.

The idea is it will be literally the first thing

that everyone looks at on the stage.

So the screens come on, highlights package,

straight into the pipes and drums.

It's great music and it'll be very exciting...

There's a lot of work still to go. Luckily, everything is covered.

It's just a question of finding out who is responsible for which area.

I've definitely heard three conflicting reports on that!

We can definitely use it, the only thing we don't yet know

is exactly what we're doing.

LAUGHTER

I don't think I'm filled with worry. There's no major dramas.

Everyone's really excited and every time we have a conversation,

good things come out of it.

It's 48 days until the Invictus Games.

-COACH:

-Go!

At the Olympic Aquatic Centre,

the selection panel have summoned all the swimming hopefuls

for trials.

I'm not after elite athletes at this stage.

What I'm looking for is the ones that can use this session

to gain something from it.

Most of the events will have different categories,

depending on injuries and disabilities.

Mike Goody and two fellow soldiers were injured

when the vehicle Mike was driving was blown up by an IED.

Mike was trapped for three hours

and with the Taliban fighting close by,

it was the danger he was putting his rescuers in

that played most on his mind.

It was about the two-hour point

that I really started thinking,

"I'm putting so many people in danger here.

"Maybe it's just better if I just let go."

Like many soldiers, Mike had prepared for this moment.

Deep in my mind, I'm going,

"I've got a letter in my pocket here for my mum, my sister and my dad."

It was a "just in case" letter, more than anything. Sort of, er...

"Really sorry if you're..."

Even just thinking about it now, it's...

It...

You just put everything that you'd ever want to say to your parents

into a letter...

..and you just don't want them

to ever...read it. Sorry.

You don't ever want them to read it or hear it or ever see it.

But...

HE SIGHS

Mike was eventually freed and his colleagues survived,

but one lost a leg.

Mike suffered severe damage to his left ankle.

2½ years and 14 operations later,

his left leg was amputated.

The mental scars from that day have taken their toll.

There's a lot of things that go on in your mind,

especially in the early days. There was the guilt complex.

I was the one driving the vehicle

and I was responsible for not only

what happened to me but also what happened to the other people.

It's somewhat, in some respects,

the psychological injuries,

which people can't see,

are sometimes worse.

You try not to make a big deal out of it when, really,

it's just tearing you up inside.

You end up going down a spiral.

The depression is dark and quite dangerous.

Not good!

His one place of solace is the pool.

MUSIC: The Wolves by Ben Howard

It's just calming, just listening to it.

Go out from the side - it is wonderful.

Whilst you are swimming, you get this rush of water going

over your ears and it's like being in a waterfall or a fountain.

It's just... I just love it.

Mike has been training five days a week for the past six months,

to secure a place to represent Great Britain in the Invictus Games.

For him, sport has played a key part in moving on mentally.

I just feel, with the water, there's just me, my thoughts.

I can be myself.

If I'm angry, I can use swimming to help me get over my PTSD.

If I'm a bit down or upset, I can use it to pick myself up.

But post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD,

is a recently recognised condition

that can often lie beneath the surface.

It can have devastating consequences.

Alan Lee is a World War II veteran.

He lost his leg fighting the Germans in France.

A pleasure to meet you, sir.

-Please don't call me sir.

-"Sir." Sorry!

-We're colleagues.

-Colleagues.

-Colleagues together, yeah.

With your experiences, were you ever... You know, the PTSD?

No, well, cos it was a different period, different times.

-Yeah.

-It wasn't the fact of... I didn't want to grumble...

-Yeah.

As I said, after the Second World War, there were thousands of us.

Well, the most time that I had to come to terms with things

was just about two or three months.

You know, cos then I was thrown into the deep end

-and I had to get a job.

-Yeah.

I had quite a lot of a guilt complex,

cos I was the one driving the vehicle.

So I kind of felt responsible for...

Of course you would do.

..everything going on.

Just a vicious cycle

of going through that.

I ended up finding myself in some very...

..awful places, shall we say?

-Yeah, that's right.

-And just...

-Waking up in the middle of the night?

-Yeah, yeah. Lots of that.

My parents used to find me tucked behind the door,

duvet round me and just screaming and crying.

Oh, must have been terrible.

Yeah. I ended up turning to a lot of drink, basically.

-Oh, I see.

-I hit it pretty bad.

-Depression...

-Well, you would do.

You thought to yourself, "What am I going to do?"

"Where am I going to go next?"

When you look in the mirror, you think to yourself, "I'm only a young fella."

-Mm. I didn't see much ahead of me, to be honest.

-No, you wouldn't.

Everything seemed to be against you.

Yeah. It was a very long tunnel with no light at the end.

But isn't that life all the way through?

You can always see somebody worse off than you.

Yeah, there's always someone.

And if somebody reminds you of that, it brings you back

down to earth again, doesn't it?

-So, with your leg...

-No, let's do the modern leg.

-Go on, then, the modern one.

-Yeah.

Now, do they ever cover this bit here?

Yeah, you can get them so that they can make it look like your own leg

and your skin and stuff.

So your stump just fits into the socket?

Yeah, I just pop that a little bit.

Cos you've got the...

Yeah, it's got to go...

It goes all the way, you see?

Yeah, that's...

-That's really high, isn't it?

-Yeah.

When I take it off, I've got to take my trousers off and everything off.

That seems to have a lot of nuts and screws.

Yeah, it's just so it can change the angle of the foot.

The annoying thing is, you've got to make sure they're all tightened up.

I've seen a couple of lads walking and all of a sudden,

their foot's like..."whoop!" Down it goes.

Yeah, I've had that happen with mine.

The rivets come out, the leg goes that way and then you're stuck here!

That's right. Yes, yes.

Dave Henson is back on the track for another race.

There's been an awful lot of preparation

but we're on the home stretch, so here we are.

I'm looking for a new PB tonight, hopefully.

He's fixed a new bracket to his running blades

and is feeling confident.

So, I've finally made my new bracket.

It's been fabricated, it's arrived, it's on, it fits,

not making any noise, so we'll see how it goes!

GUNSHOT

-MAN:

-Come on, Dave!

Come on, Dave!

Yeah, it was a new PB.

0.03 onto a PB. But it was a bit frustrating.

The start was held for quite a while

and I stumbled at the start and

I held my hand up to try and reset.

So I was sort of almost out of the blocks, and then the gun went off.

So, yeah, it's good.

Dave's run his personal best

and his bracket seems to have stood up to the test.

No sign of damage on the bracket.

There's no sign of damage on the blade.

But, actually, doing all right.

It's five weeks until the start of the Games.

In north London, the trials for the athletics team are under way.

Prince Harry has brought his brother along to the proceedings.

I'm constantly inspired by everything I hear and see

about what these guys get up to

and that's because I'm lucky enough to be around them the whole time.

Some of these guys shouldn't even be alive.

Others have probably been told they're never going to walk again

and now six, seven, eight months later,

they're running around a track for the first time.

The power of sport that it has in rehabilitation is outstanding.

Each of these individuals is at a different stage of their rehabilitation.

Some will be using it as a stepping stone to the Paralympics,

others will be using it because it's the first time they have ever

got out of the house because of the anxiety they have been suffering.

We've got the best team we could ever wish for,

we've got the most amazing concept, and we've got competitors

who are coming because they want to be part of a team,

part of something really special, and they know that, we know that.

Places like Estonia and Italy

have never used sport as part of their rehab before.

They've heard about the Invictus Games - people are doing things

they never would have done before.

LAUGHTER

I'm sure he's cheating!

CHEERING

-Guys, thank you very much.

-Thank you.

-See you again soon.

Dave Henson's training has been paying off.

He's been beating his personal best for the 200 metres consistently.

I finally got under 30 seconds,

which I should have really done back in June.

I'm a little bit behind.

Still a couple of technical issues to work on.

But in terms of equipment, I feel quite all right at the minute.

I know it's not going to break so I don't mind just powering down.

I can just push through it and know nothing's going to happen. It's made a huge difference.

Dave's times have guaranteed him a place in the team,

and now he's a favourite to win a medal.

BELL TOLLS

Down in the West Country,

Vicey has taken time off from archery training to party with his mates.

It is my "bang-iversary", as we call it.

It's three years since I was blown up.

To celebrate the day he was blown up, they've organised a charity event for injured servicemen.

It's nice to give something back because I've had a lot of help

through service charities and stuff, so why not?

To give something back, I think morally it gives you a sense

of well-being as well.

MUSIC: Hells Bells by AC/DC

A lot of guys call it their "alive day",

because it's where they nearly died.

I think "bang-iversary" just sounds quite cool!

Sort of made it up and stuck with it.

CHEERING

But it's not long before Vicey is back seeking medical attention.

It's his tenth consultation this year.

-Nice to see you.

-In you come.

Doctors have spent the last three years operating on his left leg.

But the operations have been far from successful.

Now bring the toes up towards your chin, up as far as you can.

The only peace I get is first thing in the morning.

When I first wake up, I'm like, "Ah, it doesn't hurt,"

and as soon as I get up and start moving,

it's like someone has put a knife in the middle of my ankle joint,

and every time I move, it's like wiggling it around inside.

-When I move that ankle, does that reproduce the pain?

-Mm-hm.

I'm not one to, like, moan about pain,

but it's a bit uncomfortable, to say the least, yeah.

-What splints have you tried, by the way?

-I've had...

Have you had the one that goes around here with the elastic band?

Yeah. I've had that one, with a big sole underneath it.

-How did you get on with that?

-That was all right but I broke it.

In terms of you, we've pretty much exhausted the splintage options.

I'm three years deep in rehab so I just think, "When's it going to end?"

Vicey could face more years of surgery,

with no guarantee of success.

One occupation open to him is amputation.

It's one of those situations where it is difficult for me

to tell patients what they should do, because some patients will say

they want to try everything before they embark down the route of amputation.

And others will feel, actually,

they want to draw a line under things and say they want to move on.

In my own mind, I know I have done everything I can.

I've listened to all the doctors, been to all my appointments,

tried all the surgeries, and we've come to this decision now,

and so, therefore, that's why I'd like it done.

No-one's full of enthusiasm about the prospect of taking someone's leg off.

But the reality is that sometimes it is the right option.

My goal is to walk limp-free, without pain.

As long as I can shuffle along pain-free to play around

with my children, that's fine.

Vicey's made his mind up.

He's going to have his leg amputated below the knee.

But he'll wait until after the Games

so he can compete in the archery.

SIREN WAILS

On the South Coast, Mike Goody is working his day job.

Life at the moment for me is pretty good.

Keep myself busy, keep myself fit.

-Does that hurt at all?

-No.

-That's all good?

-No.

-Good stuff.

'Cracking job. I love the job.'

Do you want a cup of tea, either of you, or any of you?

I'm all right, thank you.

-We'll have you running marathons in no time!

-That'll be nice!

-I actually lost my leg.

-You didn't?!

-Oh, my goodness!

-I actually lost one.

-You are amazing!

-You won't end up like that, I promise.

-Is it ever painful?

-Oh, very. It can be, yes.

-I bet! Oh, you poor thing!

In between work and training for the Games,

Mike's decided to pay homage to his missing limb.

Sport and his work have helped his battle against PTSD.

It's four weeks to go until the start of the Invictus Games.

Over 400 athletes from 13 countries will descend on London.

They'll compete against each other and the British team.

After months of training and trials,

the home team has finally been selected.

And Prince Harry is about to introduce them to the world.

I'm actually unbelievably nervous!

So, yeah, the clock really is ticking now.

It's very real now, and they are all psyched up,

and just to see the reaction, the smiles on their faces,

sort of reminds us why we're doing this.

There's times when we're like, "We've only given ourselves a year to organise!"

But it's all good. I'm looking forward to it.

Erm...

HE CHUCKLES

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

These men and women here have achieved so much already,

but by being selected for this team is another significant milestone

in their life beyond injury.

Everyone here behind me will be competing for themselves

but also for their mates.

I'm going to shut up now and I'm going to hand over

to Captain Dave Henson. Thank you.

Dave Henson will lead the British team.

-MAN:

-Oh, we've got to wait for Henson!

Henson! Captain Henson!

Dave, you're such a good-looking man!

CHEERING

Thank you, sir.

It's difficult to put into words how traumatic it can be

when you suffer a life-changing injury like this.

But with the support of the people around us and sport as a tool,

we've managed to get ourselves back on our feet, focused and ready to go.

I'd just like to say thank you once again for your support.

130 wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women

have been selected for the British team.

It's only two weeks now until the Games.

Our athletes are in the final stages of their preparations.

Invictus Games are brilliant.

Just to be back with the guys...

You know, we've all been through something physically, psychologically,

and it's going to be great, the camaraderie that we've got.

But the fact that it's not only Britain.

We're going to be able to have that camaraderie across

all these countries and I'm just so looking forward to it.

Whether I win or not, it's just the fact of being there,

to be honest, and representing Great Britain I think is...

the biggest buzz.

I'm going to work my soc...

I was going to say "work my socks off"! Work my sock off.

I think, just give it everything I've got and hope for the best.

I've put a lot of training in, so hopefully it'll pay off.

You know, I am going to train as hard as I can,

and when it comes to the day, I need to just make sure I grit my teeth

and I don't feel sorry for myself for one second.

You know, if it's a mile time trial -

it's only three minutes of excruciating pain and it'll be over.

You know, the 40-minute race is just 40 minutes of gritting your teeth.

If I'm somewhere in amongst it on the day

when it comes to that sprint finish, I'm going to hope

I've just got it in me to just put that pain,

push it right to the back of my head and just push to the finish line,

and hopefully win a medal, cos taking part is going to be incredible

but, you know, to win a medal at the first-ever Invictus Games...

That could be really special.

We're competitive beasts, the Marines.

And when you are taken out of that environment,

it's quite hard to take.

And then when you're competing fairly against other injured guys,

it gives you that bit of pride back.

There's no such word as "can't" any more.

And I think disability proves that to you, makes you do it.

There's nothing worse than someone saying you can't do something.

Especially to a Marine, because they'll go, "OK, watch this!"

I am so lucky to be alive, so to look at me with pity or sorrow

for these injuries when the alternative is to not be here at all

is ridiculous.

I think we're blessed as a group of guys

that have pretty much stared death in the face and come back from it

in that we can look around and see the world with these fresh eyes

and actually realise just how beautiful it is.

The change I've seen in the 130 that have been selected

for the team has been incredible.

A lot more smiles, that's for sure. And it's because they're achieving.

It doesn't matter if they're running 100 metres in five minutes

or they're running 100 metres in ten seconds.

The guy running it in five minutes would never have thought he was

going to run those 100 metres but he'll still cross the line because

he's determined to cross the line.

I want the 200-metre gold.

I think it would take a mechanical failure

for me to be out of the running for it.

But yeah...

it'd be nice.

MUSIC: Somewhere Over The Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

# Somewhere over the rainbow

# Bluebirds fly

# And the dreams that you dream of

# Dreams really do come true-oo-ooh

# Ooh-oo-ooh. #