A real feel good story...

Congratulations to them all. What an accomplishment for these folks.



Prince Harry reaches South Pole with wounded Canadian warriors

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OTTAWA — Twelve wounded warriors — two of them Canadian — reached the South Pole with Prince Harry on Friday after a 320-kilometre ski trip. They stood for souvenir photos beside the pole. There really is a pole, a red-and-white striped marker like a barber pole set up since Amundsen’s and Scott’s day. The prince immediately radioed home with an emotional appreciation of all the soldiers had struggled through: “We’re here. I am about 10 metres away from the Pole. Everyone is sort of scattered now, we’ve been here for about 20 minutes, maybe half an hour. It’s an amazing feeling, it really is. “Every single one of these 12 deserves it,” he said. The two Canadians are Master Cpl. Chris Downey of Cold Lake, Alta.; and Cpl. Alexandre Beaudin D’Anjou of Valcartier, Que. Downey grew up in Ottawa, attending school and working here before joining the military. “I’m telling everyone I know and pretty well everyone I come into contact with,“ said his father, Brian Downey, adding he was told his son was successful in an email update Friday from the Walking With the Wounded organization. The Renfrew school bus driver said he’s even been updating the high school students on his bus about his son’s progress. It was no easy trek for Chris Downey. On the second day of skiing, he fainted and was removed from the race for about 20 hours. “Chris always says you can overcome anything; like if you’re having a bad day, or a bad week, or even a bad hour, you can get through it,” his father said. “There was a point there, where we didn’t know if he was going to live three years ago.“ An IED explosion in Afghanistan in 2010 left his son with a collapsed lung, shattered jaw, broken right hand and shrapnel wounds. He lost part of his upper lip, front teeth and right eye. There were bad burns on his thighs and he suffered cuts to his upper body, face and thighs. He had two aneurysms. “He fought through his struggles and he’s at the South Pole today,“ his father said. “I’m sure that wasn’t easy for him but he just keeps fighting ... This is rehabilitation and recovery for him and his family as well.“ Prince Harry singled out Sgt. Duncan Slater from the British team: “It’s just remarkable the fact that someone with no legs has made it here, and to have done it in record breaking time, no doubt. “And Ivan (Castro) as well, when I look across I see him being guided around you know, totally blind, from America, and absolutely hates the cold, and you know he’s not doing it for himself, he’s doing it for his buddies back home. And that goes for everybody, every single one here. “All 12 of them have different reasons for being here,” he said. “What an amazing journey for every single one of them and this charity (Walking With the Wounded) really does do amazing things. It’s not just for the small minority that are here but hopefully in time to come through the documentary, and all the stories back home. It will just prove to everybody that there’s so much that can be made possible when you think that nothing is left. “But I’m so proud, I’m so chuffed and I’m so privileged to be here with all these guys and girls, and well done to Ed and Dags and everyone who’s organized this. What an amazing accomplishment. I think we’ll be having a few whiskies tonight and then everyone’s looking forward to getting home. “Mission success.” Whisky is probably available without limits. Harry is on Team Glenfiddich, named after its sponsor. The trip took 13 days. It began as a race, but two-thirds of the way to the pole the organizers called off the competition because they were afraid someone would be hurt. The Canadian-Australian, American and British teams covered the final 100-plus kilometres in one group. “I have a plate in the back of my head because I was hit with an IED in Baghdad and it caused nerve damage,” said Margaux Mange of Team U.S.A. “So they had to do brain surgery to try to alleviate the pain, and it didn’t do anything so I am stuck with a 24-hour headache.” Expedition members first had to face their fear of the immense task, the former army sergeant said. “Once you get over that fear, you just have to get past all your pain. If you are constantly thinking about your pain, it is going to overwhelm you. So I noticed over the days that you just stay in a mode of ‘Here Now.’ “If you start thinking about the future or the past, you are stuck. That’s where I am at. I know that everyone out here is in pain, and they’re suffering, but if they just talk with other people and find happiness then this is where they’re going to be. I’m staying in the moment and I am gonna be happy where I am at.”

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