Sport
Meet The Veterans Making Britain Proud At The Paralympics
The opening ceremony of the Rio Paralympics takes place tonight.
It's a chance for Britain to grab another haul of gold medals, with the forces proudly boasting 11 athletes competing across various sports.
Some are seasoned competitors. For others, it's their first experience of competition on such a big stage.
NAME: Dave Henson
SPORT: Athletics – T42 200m & 100m
Dave Henson was born in Southampton in 1984 – he joined the British Army in 2008.
He was deployed to Afghanistan in October 2010 as a Royal Engineer Search Advisor and in February 2011 he stood on an IED and lost both his legs.
It was during his rehabilitation that Dave found a new passion for sport, first competing in a series of open water swims before taking up sitting volleyball with MoD initiative Battle Back.
It was when he was given his running blades that Dave found his true passion, however.
NAME: Nick Beighton
SPORT: Paracanoe - Men's K1 200m KL2
Nick Beighton was born in Stockport in 1981. He served as a Captain in the Royal Engineers of the British Army but was injured in Afghanistan in 2009 when he stood on an IED and lost both his legs.
His life was saved by an Army medic, who kept him stable before being taken to medical facilities at Camp Bastion.
Beighton was placed in a medically-induced coma and required 36 pints of blood during his initial treatment.
NAME: Jamie Burdekin
SPORT: Wheelchair Tennis – Singles and Doubles
Jamie Burdekin was born in Liverpool in 1970. He still lives there and off the court he is a keen Everton FC supporter and devoted to his son Charlie, daughter Beau and fiancée Kelly.
A former Royal Marine, Jamie was injured in a car accident in Liverpool in 2000 when he was 21. The accident happened the night before he was due to pass out from Lympstone.
In 2003 Jamie was introduced to wheelchair tennis at a Tennis Foundation wheelchair tennis camp in Nottingham. In 2004 he made his debut for Great Britain at the World Team Cup in New Zealand.
NAME: Jo Butterfield
SPORT: Athletics – F32/51 Club Throw and F52 Discus
A former British Army civil servant, Jo Butterfield worked alongside the British Army for 10 years. She was born in Yorkshire in 1979, but later moved to Glasgow.
In 2011 she was diagnosed with a spinal tumour which resulted in her being paralysed below the waist.
Butterfield’s meteoric rise has continued retaining her European crown and also obliterating the world record with a new mark of 22.75m in Grosseto, Italy.
NAME: Jon-Allan Butterworth
SPORT: Cycling – C4-5 Kilo, C5 Individual pursuit and Team Sprint
Jon-Allan Butterworth was born 6 February 1986 in Birmingham.
He joined the Royal Air Force in 2002 but lost his left arm in 2007 in an insurgent rocket attack when serving as an SAC(T) weapons technician at Basra Airbase in Iraq. He had previously served in Afghanistan in 2005.
He represented Great Britain at the London 2012 Summer Paralympics where he won silver medals in the C4-5 kilo, C5 4km individual pursuit and mixed team sprint.
NAME: Phil Eaglesham
SPORT: Shooting
Corporal Phil Eaglesham was born in Dungannon and joined the Royal Marines in 2004. He was deployed to Afghanistan twice and Iraq once, as well as both Arctic and jungle training.
Discovering shooting has given Phil an outlet, as well as something positive to focus on. Phil has found that while his illness continues to decline, his shooting scores continue to improve.
The sport has also given him the opportunity to compete again, a natural instinct for the former Royal Marine.
NAME: Mikey Hall
SPORT: Archery
Mikey joined the Army in 1995, serving in 1st The Queen’s Dragoons Guards. In 2000, he was left paralysed from the chest down after an accident during a training exercise.
A keen sportsman, Mikey joined the Help for Heroes Sports Recovery Programme and got involved with several sports, including cycling and Ironman triathlons. But from the moment he picked up a bow, Mikey knew archery was the sport for him.
NAME: Pamela Relph
SPORT: Rowing
Pam Relph was born on 14 November 1989 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. She attended the Wellbeck Defence Sixth Form College on an Army scholarship and planned to join the Royal Engineers, but her Army career was ended by arthritis.
She was introduced to the sport of rowing in August 2010 by her older sister Monica, who had rowed internationally for Great Britain. In November 2010 she finished second in the British Indoor Rowing Championships.
NAME: John Robertson
SPORT: Sailing – Three Person Sonar
John Robertson was born in Sunderland in February 1972. After leaving school he joined the Royal Air Force, but in 1994 a motorbike accident left him paralysed from the waist down and he was invalided out of the force.
Robertson was first introduced to sailing by his father when he was 11, piloting 'mirrors' off the coast in Sunderland. After his accident in 1994, he was introduced to Paralympic trimarans by a spinal injuries charity and in 1997 he began sailing Sonars.
NAME: Joe Townsend
SPORT: Para Triathlon
Royal Marine Commando (40Cdo) Joe Townsend was injured in 2008, at the age of 19, after standing on an Improvised Explosive Device.
Joe lost both of his legs in the blast and after 14 hours in surgery at Camp Bastion, he was flown back to the UK where he spent five weeks in a critical care ward.
Joe carried the Paralympic Flame into the London 2012 stadium as part of the opening ceremony. He was suspended by wires and made a dramatic overhead entrance to the arena, even though he is scared of heights.
NAME: Micky Yule
SPORT: Powerlifting
Micky Yule was born in Musselburgh, East Lothian in Scotland on Christmas Eve 1978.
He joined the Royal Engineers and on July 1st 2010 Staff Sergeant Micky Yule was in Afghanistan when he stepped on an IED – he immediately lost his left leg and received significant injuries to his right hand and right leg.
Micky knew he wouldn’t be able to continue his career in the Army and while recovering, he began to focus on his future.
A competitive Powerlifter pre-injury, Micky was keen to get back in the gym and he did just that with support from Help for Heroes.
Picture Courtesy Help for Heroes: Roger Keller & Theo Cohen
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