Military veteran from Heywood selected for Invictus Games 2023

Date published: 28 May 2023

A military veteran from Heywood who now lives in Spain has been selected for the Invictus Games 2023 which will be held in Düsseldorf in Germany this September.

Kelly McVitty will be representing Invictus Games Team UK, competing in one-armed swimming, recumbent cycling and one-armed athletics. She has also been made vice-captain of the team, which she describes as “an incredible honour.”

The Invictus Games are an international multi-sport event which was first held in 2014, for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women, both serving and veterans. The aim of the games is to demonstrate the power of sport to inspire recovery, support rehabilitation and demonstrate life beyond disability. 

 

 

A former student at Heywood Community High School, Kelly lived in Heywood until 2003 when she joined the military, working for the Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service.

Kelly specialised as a critical care nurse, looking after people on life support, spending many years of her service at the Royal Centre of Defence Medicine, treating injured personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The former nurse also completed three tours of Afghanistan in 2008, 2010 and 2012, and was on call several months of the year for the Critical Care Air Support Team.

 

 

“Being on call meant that you had two hours’ notice to move and fly to anywhere in the world to retrieve the critically ill military patient and nurse them back to the UK. The majority of our missions were to Afghanistan,” she said.

It was during one of these missions in 2012 that Kelly was involved in an ambulance collision that would change her life.

Kelly explained: “I had landed at the airport, and I was transferring the patient in the back of an ambulance to the hospital.

“We had police outriders in front and behind to close the road off for safe passage. Unfortunately, another road user didn't see what was happening and cut up a police outrider causing the ambulance to do an emergency stop.

“At the time I was working on the patient and just sitting back down. I was thrown sideways hitting my left side of my body and briefly losing consciousness.

“After composing myself and feeling OK to carry on we continued to the hospital. It wasn't until the day after that I woke up with pins and needles, unable to move.

“Eventually things settled and all my symptoms were isolated to my left upper body.

“My symptoms are hard to describe but they range from daily nausea, pins and needles, lethargy, neck and jaw tension and hypersensitivity. These symptoms are exacerbated when using my left side and these can last for several weeks at a time.”

 

 

An MRI scan showed that Kelly was experiencing oedema (swelling) of the brachial plexus, a network of nerve fibres in the shoulder. She was also diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome, a group of disorders that occur when blood vessels and nerves in the space between the collarbone and the first rib (thoracic outlet) are compressed.

Kelly underwent surgery in 2017 to remove one of her neck muscles and first rib to try and relieve the compression in her artery and nerves, but unfortunately her symptoms didn’t improve.

In 2020, she was medically discharged, losing her job as a critical care nurse. She also moved to Spain in March 2020, as the warmer weather helps with her symptoms.

“I have had to learn to adapt my life to fit with my injury both physically and mentally.

“It's hard to accept at times, especially when on the outside, I look physically able,” she said.

When Kelly found out she would be discharged, she began looking at courses and events to attend, to see what she could do outside of the military.

 

 

She commented: “One of these was going along to the Invictus Games trials to learn about adaptive sports. I used to be a keen golfer; however, my injury stopped me playing as well as many other sports I enjoyed. I eventually stopped many activities as the pain I felt afterwards wasn’t worth it.

“I lost all enjoyment in keeping fit until I went along to the trails where they showed me how to adapt sports to my injury.”

Kelly was selected for the 2020 Invictus Games in Hague in 2019, however had to withdraw after finding out she was pregnant with her son, Jaxon.

“In June 2020, I gave birth to Jaxon, which was unfortunately a trauma birth, resulting in us both nearly losing our lives. Thankfully we are both here and fighting fit but it was a long recovery,” she added. “In April 2022 I watched the people I had been selected with taken part in the Hague. It made me so proud, however I was so upset that I hadn't managed to take part.

“This spurred me on to apply for the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023.”

Kelly attended the trials, and found out in January 2023 that she had once again been selected.

She currently spends her time training with her husband, with regular return visits to the UK to partake in Invictus Training Camps. Her family still live in Heywood and Kelly recently was able to carry out some training at the Heywood Sports Village.

 

 

Kelly said: “I couldn't believe my luck; I broke down in tears, not realising just how much I needed this in my life.

“I think that moving countries, leaving the military and having a traumatic birth with a slow recovery all through Covid had left me feeling lost. This is now my chance to start rebuilding me.

“The Invictus Games Foundation means a lot to me as they celebrate the achievements of injured, wounded, or sick service personnel and veterans. They provide an inclusive environment that provides abundance of support and encouragement. 

“I'm honoured to be a part of this incredible event and it's a privilege to have the opportunity to represent my country and be with other military personnel who have gone through similar experiences.

“I want to spread the message that whatever your physical or mental disability there is a sport out there for everyone to do. There are so many adaptive sports and clubs out there and I hope that my story can inspire others to try some out.”