A Powerful Journey with Invictus

I was really overwhelmed. I didn’t know what I was getting into. So my sport was cycling, I didn’t cycle. I rode a couple mountain bikes like every little kid does but nothing serious. Invictus, so to go there, to meet my team first of all was like, you know, you are strangers because some people I might have crossed paths with or whatever but we came together because we knew where we were from. So Invictus and to compete, because you are living with the other athletes from the other nations so you are interacting all the time. There’s lots of laughing, there’s lots of crying but not crying out of sorrow, crying out of happiness because it is just wow, we got this chance to put on a Canadian flag again and go represent my country and not worry that someone is going to kill me or I am not going to come home. My family was with me. My family got to go to Disneyland. We were warming up on the track, Team Canada cycling team and we were in a tight formation and we were going pretty fast and we hit this one corner and my little girls had these signs, “Go Canada Go” you know and one of the guys was like, “What!” and when he looked I am telling you he almost took us all out. We almost didn’t make it to the race. And then the people and the support, it’s beautiful!

These athletes today, I tell them you’re going on a trip and it’s a trip and it’s going to be an emotional trip and it’s going to be an emotional journey but open your hearts and take it all in and just love it because it’s going to affect them for the rest of their life. Especially the soldiers that aren’t serving anymore, they have lost that camaraderie. They are getting it back now. They are going to have these teammates for the rest of their lives and it’s different.

Prince Harry being Prince Harry being a combat soldier, wonderful! My kids met him. Invictus is amazing. The support, the organizations behind Invictus, Soldier On they tremendously, a lot of guys say it but ya, they saved my life more than once and to be part of that again. And I find we want it all the time now. It’s kind of a bitter pill. I am sitting on the side and watching the team and I’m so happy for them, this is great, I wish I was there! I want to be there. I want to be part of you but it’s not my time, it’s your time. I had my time and now it’s your time and go and enjoy it and live it.