What a couple of weeks this has been! The visit of Prince Harry to the United States was well covered in the media, and his attendance at the Warrior Games in Colorado Springs certainly put that event on the map in both the UK and US. He really connected with the British Team, giving them an excellent start in the seated volleyball event (in which they eventually came third).
Speaking of the Warrior Games, winning 21 medals overall, including 4 Golds and 7 Silver, the British Armed Forces Team certainly made the most of their time in Colorado Springs. The psychological rehabilitative effects of mixing with their extraordinarily friendly counterparts in the US Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and Special Ops took this event beyond merely providing an excellent sporting spectacle. Prince Harry announced his vision to conduct an Allied Warrior Games in the UK in 2014, and work is now proceeding apace in the UK to scope the feasibility of this and hopefully deliver an event which provides a legacy to last year’s Paralympic Games, and indeed Sir Ludwig Guttman’s very first Stoke Mandeville disabled games for World War II veterans.
On seeing the Games first hand this year, Surgeon General Air Marshal Paul Evans said:
“It was a real pleasure and privilege to witness firsthand the unifying and healing power of sport that underlies the Warrior Games. The Games provide a unique focus and platform for our wounded, ill and sick to be tested against their peers from the US military, both as individuals and as part of a team, building experience, confidence and friendships along the way. As SG, and under the auspices of the US/UK Task Force, I will continue to promote and support UK participation in both the Games and the myriad of other activities and competitions taking place that support the recovery of our wounded, ill and sick, but which also provide such inspiration and pleasure to the rest of us.”
On return to DC, the Help for Heroes Big Battlefield Bike Ride team, Shoulder to Shoulder, were hugely privileged to have a US Secret Service/Montgomery County Police blue light escort from Walter Reed to the Ambassador’s Residence to launch them on their way to the bike ride. The subsequent dinner in the Ambassador’s Residence raised over $50,000 for three charities: Help for Heroes, Fisher House and the Allied Forces Foundation. The team are now safely in Paris, riding through the battlefields and monuments of northern France toward London with over 300 other able bodied and disabled cyclists. The 350 mile Big Battlefield Bike Ride runs from 27th May to 2nd June with the conclusion in London.
