Invictus Games Archives - Page 2 of 2

14Jul 2017

By Stephen J. ThorneNo Comments

Invictus Games

Last in the order of march

Jody Mitic’s mother is in awe at the directions his life has taken since he stepped on a mine in Afghanistan Story and photography by Stephen J. Thorne On Jan. 11, 2007, Joanne Fisher-Mitic got the call no mother wants to receive. Her son Jody, a master sniper and a seasoned master corporal with 1st Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, had been wounded in Afghanistan. Actually, the first call came from Mitic himself. Despite having stepped on an Italian-made anti-personnel mine, which had been planted on top of a Russian-made 82mm mortar shell, he sounded lucid and composed during his brief message. He’d already lost his right leg below the knee and was headed for the first of numerous surgeries, this one to amputate what remained of his left foot. But he didn’t te...

7Jul 2017

By Stephen J. ThorneNo Comments

Invictus Games

The jump that changed everything

Paratrooper Steve Daniel’s hard-landing injury triggered a sequence that transformed him into a Paralympian and medical doctor Story and photography by Stephen J. Thorne Once he joined the infantry, all Steve Daniel wanted was to be a paratrooper, and he became a good one. Daniel signed up at 19, moved into the 1st Airborne Regiment soon after and, when it was disbanded in 1995, joined Para Company, 3rd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment out of Petawawa, Ont. He was an elite paratrooper, a pathfinder (airborne reconnaissance) and a freefall specialist. South of the border, they call it HALO jumping—high-altitude low-opening. As opposed to static-line jumping, where 50 paras will deploy in less than a minute and the chutes are small, round and open on exit, freefall chut...

29Jun 2017

By Stephen J. ThorneNo Comments

Invictus Games

Masters of their fate, part 2

Team Canada’s training camp in Kingston, Ont., set the roster for the Invictus Games in Toronto this September Story and photography by Stephen J. Thorne Canada announced its Invictus Games team on June 15, as a second week-long training camp wrapped up in Kingston, Ont. The photos below were taken there as the athletes trained. The Games were created by Prince Harry in 2014 to honour and help the wounded through the power of rehabilitative sports. “Invictus” means “unconquered,” and the spirit of the competition is captured in the words of the 1875 poem “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley: “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” Ninety veterans and serving members with physical or mental-health injuries, wounds or illnesses contracted while with the...

23Jun 2017

By Stephen J. ThorneNo Comments

Invictus Games

Masters of their fate

Team Canada’s training camp in Kingston, Ont., set the roster for the Invictus Games in Toronto this September Story and photography by Stephen J. Thorne Canada announced its Invictus Games team on June 15, while its second week-long training camp wrapped up in Kingston, Ont. The photos below were taken there as the athletes trained. Ninety veterans and serving members with physical or mental-health injuries, wounds or illnesses contracted while with the Canadian Armed Forces were chosen. Sponsored by the military’s Soldier On program, the team is supported by 11 coaches, two athletic trainers, a medical team, a manager and staff. They will compete in 12 adaptive sports at the Games slated for Toronto in September, facing some 500 athletes from 17 allied countries at this, the...

10Feb 2017

By Stephen J. Thorne1 Comment

Invictus Games

Regaining control

PORTRAIT OF INSPIRATION Natacha Dupuis, co-captain of Canada’s 2017 Invictus Games team, was inspired by other injured soldiers Story and photography by Stephen J. Thorne Master Corporal Natacha Dupuis was on a routine clearing operation in Afghanistan’s Shah Wali Kot district when a roadside bomb took out the Coyote reconnaissance vehicle behind her. It was 8:45 a.m., on March 20, 2009. The next 20 minutes would change Dupuis’ life. Even before they could respond, Dupuis—a driver, gunner and surveillance operator—and her crew in the Royal Canadian Dragoons from Garrison Petawawa in Ontario, feared the worst. As soon as the ramp of her unit opened, they could see the 14.5-tonne armoured vehicle was lying upside down, completely destroyed. The carnage was overwhelming....

Invictus Games

Last in the order of march

The jump that changed everything

Masters of their fate, part 2

Masters of their fate

Regaining control

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