Page 34 - QARANC Vol 14 No 10 2015

32 QARANC THE GAZETTE
could. I touched the wall and looked
up at the electronic scoreboard. I
had won gold!!! The crowd were
going wild and I just couldn’t believe
it. All that hard work had paid off.
I was presented my medal on
the podium by. Lizzy Yarnold, the
Olympic Champion in the Skeleton
and it was a very emotional and
proud moment for me. Next was the
50m Backstroke. I was in a higher
classification grade for the next 3 of
my races so did not really expect to
medal again. I focused and did my
best. It seemed like an awful long way to the other end, but I touched the wall and again looked at the scoreboard. Bronze medal! How fantastic. I was then interviewed by BBC1 at the poolside and congratulated by the Australian and American team on my achievement. The camaraderie was second to none. The 50m Breaststroke was my next race and the noise was just deafening. I knew it must be very close for the medal places when I was swimming but tried not to focus on that. Bronze again! The last race was the 100m Freestyle and I came 4th, and with a personal best of over 7 seconds. 1 gold and 2 bronze medals I was ecstatic. Top of the medal board was BAF with 139 medals
You would have thought that would be the end of it but BAF Team were nominated for a Pride of Britain
award and the Captains of the 9 sports were invited to London. This was one of the best nights of my life as we met many sports celebrities such as Sir Chris Hoy, Barry McGuigan, Nicola Adams, Bradley Wiggins and Kevin Pieterson not to mention others such as Alan Carr, Olly Murs, Carol Vorderman, Alisha Dixon, the X Factor judges and the Dragon’s Den team. Ours was the last award to be presented and we got a standing ovation from the guests as we made our way onto the stage. It was a wonderful and humbling experience. We then commenced the after Awards party. What happened at the party stays at the party, as all military know....
The Prime Minister invited us to 10 Downing Street the next day along with all the other Pride of Britain award winners. We had a blue light police bike escort through London, which was a great experience, especially as we spent most of the journey on the wrong side of the road. On arrival we had a tour of the residence and then introduced ourselves to the other winners and chatted until the Prime Minister came through and told us how proud he and Britain was of our courage against adversity. This fortnight was one of the most amazing life experiences I have ever had. If anyone reading this has been injured, physically or psychologically while Serving or as a Veteran I really would recommend giving this a go. What have you got to lose!
Mary Wilson - Veteran Ex SSgt QARANC