Meet Micky Yule: The Forces Para Athlete With Strength Of Steel

WARNING: THE ABOVE VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES OF SURGERY.

For Micky Yule only the podium will do, having taken gold at the Invictus Games two years ago, and at the IPC Powerlifting European Championships in 2015.

He also competed at Rio in his first Paralympics in 2016.

The former Staff Sergeant may be 40 this year, but he's just weeks away from his second Commonwealth Games. We spoke to him about the upcoming challenge:

“If I could get back to my normal form, I’ll come back with a medal.

“I’ve had four years solid training to get back on form to come back with a medal, and that’s what’s going to happen.”

Micky lost his legs whilst part of a high-risk search team locating IEDs in Afghanistan eight years ago, but he has never let that stop him.

He recently took part in a documentary where he became the first double amputee to challenge an able-bodied athlete in the white-knuckle sport of skeleton.

“I got told ‘you can’t do that, you’re going to crash and die, it’s too fast’.

"It’s scary as hell, but that’s the buzz I wanted, and I was missing from being in the Army.

“I’m always striving to get the same buzz from when I was walking out in Afghanistan on patrol with my mates, and I certainly found I got it a little bit when I was doing the slider.

“I feel like I’ve achieved that breaking down of barriers.

"Don’t tell a disabled person what they can’t do, especially don’t tell a disabled athlete that it’s too dangerous, because we’ll take the danger, we’ll add rockets, and then we’ll show you what we can do.”

Micky's done all of this while taking part in a revolutionary new MOD trial to change prosthetics for injured service personnel.

Osseo-integration uses a titanium implant that fuses with the bone, meaning amputees no longer have to use sockets or suction cups.

The surgery hasn't been completely plain sailing for Micky.

His left femur snapped above the implant before Christmas when he was standing up, and he had to be pinned back together.

Unfortunately, he's the only participant to have this happen; The Queen Elizabeth Hospital acknowledged that this is a trial and there are risks.

“it’s held together with bolts, screws, metal plates and titanium rods. Hopefully it will be the strongest there when it feels.

“The strongest part of me is my head.

“I was training in hospital- I asked the physio to get me some dumbbells, so I was already getting my head ready for what was coming.”

The Commonwealth Games begins in just over six weeks’ time, and Micky will be there.