29 Oct 2018
Invictus Games 2018
Adversity doesn’t build character; adversity shows your true character. This statement from Lorin Nicholson was one of the most powerful comments we heard on our trip to the Invictus Games. Lorin is renowned author, songwriter and businessman. He only has 6% of vision leaving him only able to see some shapes and colours. Lorin credits a great deal of his success with the adversity he has faced in his life and is adamant that he wouldn’t be the person he is today without being blind. The message was clear; see a person’s ability not their disability.
The crowd were quizzed with what they thought the most difficult thing about being blind was. Answers like “not being able to see your loved ones smile” and “not knowing where you are going” were the most common answers. The answer Lorin gave the crowd was much more powerful than these. The one thing above all others that Lorin said was the difficult thing about being blind was how others treated him. This drew a tear from most of the students in the crowd.
The athletics meet at the Invictus Games was like every other professional athletics meet with one main exclusion. To start each race the crowd were asked to be silent and the starter would begin the race with a gentle beep rather than the traditional starting pistol. The sobering reason for this is that sound of the starting signal can replicate the sound of battle that many of the competitors have endured which can bring back awful flash backs for those who have post-traumatic stress.
Camaraderie is in an important aspect of day to day life in the military. There were several examples of camaraderie that we witnessed at the Invictus Games. In two separate races competitors at the rear of the race waited for other athletes to catch up so they could finish the race together. Finishing the race and helping one another was more important than individual success. On one occasion two French 1500m runners with prosthetic legs held hands for the last 100m and supported each other to cross the line at the same time. This received the loudest cheer of the day.
To get a feel for how people manage with missing limbs we undertook a challenge to build our own prosthetic leg and were challenged to walk 4 meters with it. Each table were given different amounts and types of household equipment to build their new legs. The differing amount replicated the fact that not everyone has access to the same amount of resources and people in less privileged countries than ours often must build their own prosthetic limbs from the resources available to them.
We finished out trip with some down time in the city. Tyra was proposed to by a street performer, Bianca, Mr Price and Tyra were involved in a separate street performance where chainsaws and fire sticks were being juggled. The late train ride back to our accommodation provided us some time to reflect on what we had experienced for the day and to be grateful for how lucky we truly are.
