A Soham soldier who lost his leg after being hit by an 11-ton tank became a Team GB medal-winner at this year’s Invictus Games
Wayne Harrold, 48, claimed the bronze medal in the men’s road cycling IRB2 time trial while British teammates Steve Sebburn won gold and Karl Allen-Dobson silver.
Despite having his leg crushed by a Spartan-tracked reconnaissance vehicle during an exercise on Salisbury Plain in 2001, Wayne is one of 22 British competitors in the UK cycling team. Together, they have already won 11 medals.
Despite his amputation, Wayne stayed in the army for another ten years, earning promotions in that time.
For the past six years he has worked for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, based at Cambridge City Cemetery.
Before flying to Australia, the team at Cambridge University Hospital (CUH) NHS Foundation Trust, working in partnership with the Prosthetic and Orthotics provider Opcare, designed a custom-made prosthetic leg for Wayne.
Team GB at this year’s competition, which runs until Saturday (October 27) in Sydney, consists of 72 wounded, injured and sick military personnel and veterans who were selected to represent the UK.
Before the games, Wayne said: “I feel a lot stronger and fitter than I did in Toronto last year and the design of this prosthetic limb is helping me cycle harder and faster.
“I am hugely appreciative of Eilidh and the Clinical Engineering Innovation team, in particular Maighread Ireland and Daniel Marsden, for helping to design this prosthetic limb which will hopefully help me bring back gold for Britain, Cambridgeshire and the NHS.”
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