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dancing on ice
Three-tracker –LCpl Simon Wiggins
(Coldstream Guards)
THE 22-year-old lost his right leg in March 2008 when he stepped on a mine pressure pad while serving in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
“This is only my second time skiing – it was my mate that got me into it. I’d never skied before and we went to Colorado and CSDST asked me to come here for the two-day team selection. I was really rubbish when I first started but I picked it up quite quickly. I thought it would be a lot harder to come back than it has been. Before I was injured I used to play a lot of football but I can’t do that now so I hope this has taken that place.”
Mono-skier – Sjt Martin Beaney (Rifles)
IN 2006 Beaney (33) lost his left kneecap and suffered severe shrapnel wounds when he was hit by an IED in Iraq.
“I’d never thought about skiing before but now I’m here it would be great to be picked as part of a team. I always used to want to go skiing but things always came up so it’s ironic that it was only when I was injured that I decided to give it a go. It’s the freedom that I love about it, and the chance to learn a new skill.”
Two-tracker – Capt Bernie Bambury (Rifles)
THE outgoing 33-year-old lost his right leg below the knee in January 2008 after riding a toboggan down the Cresta Run – a potentially-lethal ice shoot where the rider goes down headfirst.
“I used to ski before so it wasn’t too hard to pick it back up. For me it is not the activity itself that is really important but it is getting your confidence back. It’s about people lying in hospital beds without a limb thinking that it’s the end for them – but it isn’t. We have to show that there are no limits.” |
Report: Samantha Chapman
Pictures: Graeme Main
FOR soldiers, the thought of being inactive and unable is one that comes only in their nightmares.
Yet for those who live through that reality there is now the realisation that it doesn’t have to end with whatever they have lost.
For with Battle Back, the Forces’ scheme which gives injured soldiers a taste of the sporting adventures they can pursue, anything is possible.
Skiing has quickly become one of the sports of choice for injured personnel – so much so that the Combined Services Disabled Ski Team (CSDST) was set up, and is now recruiting fresh talent with Paralympic dreams.
At the CSDST selection day at Hemel Hempstead Snow Centre, chairman Col David Eadie said there were eight hopefuls trying out for the team, of which six were from the British Army.
“There are those who have skied before and those that haven’t,” he said. “It is harder for those who haven’t because they have to learn the entire discipline, but we are seeing some real talent emerge.
“To get to the Paralympics there is a very long process to go through – it is a lot of time spent in training and competitions, but it would be a fantastic achievement.
“Through CSDST we are trying to give these guys something back that they lost when they lost their limbs.
“When the worst happens they have to face up to what they can’t do any more, but we want to show them what they can do.”
Last year Army adaptive skiers Tpr Stephen Shine (2 RTR), Sgt Martin Hewitt (R Signals) and Capt Mick Brennan (Para), pictured right, showed huge potential to take their skiing further and have provided a focal point for many young hopefuls.
The trio’s ultimate aim is to qualify for the Winter Paralympics in Russia in 2014, but they recently wowed the slopes at the Army Alpine Championships in the slalom, giant slalom and super giant slalom events.
“They compete against able-bodied skiers because there is a factor system,” explained Col Eadie.
“Depending on their injury there is a different factor that we put into the final score so that they can compete on their merits.
“It’s a good system because all the skiers want to know is how well they have done and it tells them that they are 12th in the Army, for example, rather than being the 12th disabled skier.”
There are three categories available for disabled skiers – standing, sitting and visually impaired – the latter of which does not currently have anyone to fill it.
Each skier is then assigned a different set of skis depending on their particular disability – those who have lost arms or a leg below the knee, for example, will be on two-track skis.
Those without legs above the knee are given one ski and two outriggers (poles with mini-skis on the end) and are known as three-trackers. Finally, mono-skiers may have lost both legs or are paraplegic and have one ski with an adapted chair.
CSDST performance and technical director Maj Ian Large explained: “They will be going down at speeds of around 50 or 60mph at the end of their first season and they always come out with a big smile on their faces.
“We just build on them from there. When training the staff are very aware of the difficulties disabled athletes can have – for example scar tissue is delicate and can be sore and the bottom of leg stumps can really hurt. We do make sure we look after them.”
Once the eight skiers are talent-spotted by the CSDST coaches, they go to Austria to be taught how to race and then take part in their individual corps competitions, Service championships and finally the Inter-Service competition.
“If you could count how much these sports mean to the soldiers in smiles, it would be infinite,” added Battle Back OC Maj Martin Colclough. “I think it is simply a huge morale booster – everything after that, such as the Paralympics, is a bonus.”
American idols: Injured US personnel receive pioneering care at medical and welfare facility deep in the heart of Texas >>
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