Wounded veterans have spoken about the profound significance of representing their country again as the Invictus Games prepares to land in Birmingham in 2027. For many, wearing the Union Jack on their tracksuit is a powerful reclaiming of identity after life-altering injuries sustained in Afghanistan.
JJ Chalmers: From Coma to Games Ambassador
JJ Chalmers, a former Royal Marine who was severely wounded by an IED in Afghanistan in 2011, recalls his first journey to Birmingham – a medically induced coma as he was airlifted from the battlefield. “I woke up in Birmingham 15 years ago. I had blinked, and a week of my life had disappeared,” he said. “I’d travelled halfway around the world and I’d woken up with this debt of gratitude to a city that had saved my life.”
Chalmers spent nine weeks recovering at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Now, he returns on an Invictus Games branded train, surrounded by fellow injured veterans. He jokes that the event “started off as a bit of a sports day and now we’ve got a train.”
Finding New Purpose Through Sport
Chalmers credits the Invictus Games, co-founded with Prince Harry, with transforming his life. “The day that I became involved with the Invictus Games is as significant as the day I was wounded,” he said. “It completely changed the course of my life. It gave me a new career and gave me a new piece of life, new friends.”
Josh Boggi, 39, lost his right arm and both legs in Afghanistan at age 24. He described how sport helped him rebuild his identity. “When I was joining the Army, it was the first time I found my identity and then being injured I lost my identity in a real way,” he said. “To put that tracksuit with the flag on my arm again, it gives you that identity and that purpose.”
Dave Henson: Continuing to Serve
Dave Henson, 41, a former Royal Engineers officer who lost both legs, said wearing the flag again is deeply meaningful. “When you get to put your flag back on and you get to go out and stand both in front of your country and on behalf of your country and show them just what it means to be a British serviceperson – I think there’s really something quite special about that moment.”
Henson went on to win a Paralympic bronze medal in Rio and competed in multiple Invictus Games and World Championships. He was not ready to leave service: “I was not done with my time. I was not done with what I was trying to do for my country.”
The Games' Growing Global Reach
Since its inception, the Invictus Games has grown to include veterans from conflicts worldwide, from Ukraine to the Sahel. For many participants, the event has been life-changing and even life-saving, providing a vehicle to overcome physical and mental scars of war.
Birmingham will host the next Games in 2027, offering injured veterans a chance to compete in the city that saved many of their lives. As Chalmers noted, “Through sport, lives can be changed and saved.”
