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Life, or survival after M.B.S., no, not after reading this magazine, but when through the passage of time, the ‘esprit de corps’, that feeling of pride and mutual loyalty shared
by members of a group becomes blurred, and memory troubles cause us to spend more time than we like or would admit too, saying to ourselves; “what was his name”? How do you cope? You are no-longer part of the group, have become, through many circumstances, isolated and the joys and great memories of your service days are fading.
Perhaps age has brought with it illness or disability. Or even worse, injury whilst serving brought to a sudden end a great career with wonderful prospects. How do you survive? Your ‘Mind’ is void of positive thoughts, your ‘Body’ is broken, and your ‘Spirit’ is at an all-time low! What happens next depends upon many things in my opinion, but right at the top of the list for me has to be; ‘what kind of people are we’? ‘Glass half empty or full’!
I joined the army in late 1977 at the age of 22 with one and only one purpose in mind, to join the P.T. Corps. I felt borne to and drawn to all things physical and knew very early on in my army career that I had made the right choice, the perfect fit for me. As a boy I knew I was a glass half full individual and that has always helped me and thankfully stayed with me.
After a year in Germany I was an assistant instructor, then following a tour in Northern Ireland in 1980, was invited to the advance course at Aldershot and battled my way onto the ‘100 Probationers Course’, 27th April - 31st July 1981. Some of our time as ‘Junior Probs’ was spent in training and rehearsing on the ‘High Horse’ for shows we would be performing during the summer.
Assistant Instructor Days Hildesheim 1979
Several shows into the season we were at Fleet, Saturday June 11th 1981 to be precise, and at that show I over rotated and broke my neck, level C5/6 for the more informed. Instantly paralysed from the neck down!
Eighteen months of hospitalisation and so-called rehab later, (welcome to the eighties and so called after care) welcome also to a world pretty much devoid of equality for disabled people and you begin to see the life I was suddenly having to live. My ‘Mind’ void of positive thoughts, a ‘Body’ broken beyond recognition, and a ‘Spirit’ at an all-time low!
It will be thirty nine years since that fateful day this year and I have to admit that the first three of them were spent in wallowing self- pity, and then I switched back on and remembered I was a ‘glass half full’ guy.
As a gesture of kindness, I was made a honoury life member of the association on the day I attended the passing out parade of my probationers group, an emotionally tough day for me. I’m still a little locked in my current world, still saying now and then, “if only” and “what if”, and for various reasons I’m not a reunion kind of guy.
But, and this is a big but, that ‘esprit de corps’ I mentioned earlier is right there with me still. In the short time I was a part of the Corps, if not even before then, there was developed deep in my psyche, a sense of being a part of a group that creates men and women that will live and breathe the joy for as long as breath still holds them, the Corp Motto; ‘Mens Sana In Corpore Sano’ (A healthy mind in a healthy body).
Boys at Shrewsbury
LIFE AFTER ‘M.B.S.’!
Steve Rigby
Getting my PADI Bahamas 2009
Group at Alrewas Memorial