Craig Godsall

For 30-year-old former Guardsman Craig, training for the Invictus Games has opened his eyes to the benefit of support from his teammates and coaches.

Since his back injury which caused damage to three discs, he lost the confidence to run and became so depressed that he made two attempts on his life.

“I lost that feeling of closeness and help from my Army friends. But since applying for Invictus, I’ve been given a new purpose and I feel like I’m finally getting my pride back as well as my sense of family, it’s amazing.”

Craig, who lives in Newport, hopes his involvement in the Games means he will become more open about his mental health and share his thoughts and feelings before he reaches rock bottom. He also hopes that having the confidence to train and be around groups of people means he will not become isolated again.

“During Covid I really struggled mentally and physically but with good support from Invictus Team UK and Help for Heroes I was able to keep on track with check-ins from the athletics team and counselling from Help for Heroes.

I finally started to buy kit and went out running and joined in on online courses that was being held by Invictus and attending our coffee evenings so we could keep in touch."