Tom O’Brien, from Great Harwood, signed up to the army at 17 and served for six years with the Scots Guards, involved in deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. The 31-year-old has battled with post-traumatic stress disorder, hearing loss and arthritis as a result of his time in the services and credits sport as an essential part of his recovery journey: “I’ve realised how vitally important sport is to my recovery, I need to set goals and work hard to achieve them.”

“Looking back Tom explains the challenges that faced him : “Its hard to describe what my life was like before and even harder for others to imagine. I spent 3 years after Afghanistan descending further into misery, aggression was all I could ever muster, I destroyed everything around me ; my home and the trust of my family.”

“After being hospitalised and spending the next 2 and a half years heavily medicated and miserable, my health deteriorated as I gained weight from being so sedated, I was introduced to Invictus by a friend with whom I had served.”

Introduction to the Invictus journey served as a turning point in Tom’s life; “Since then everything has changed, I now have drive and focus, I have rebuilt friendships with old comrades and have made so many new and wonderful friends.”
“My health and fitness are returning, something I truly thought would be gone forever. Sports recovery continues to be vital to my health and wellbeing.”