47 year old Jamie Weller who recently brought home four bronze medals from this year’s Invictus Games, is taking on a new challenge. The former Navy Aircraft Engineer trekked for 13 days across Nepal on this extreme and once in a life time challenge to reach the base of Mount Everest. The challenge was organised by and raised money for Help for Heroes (H4H).
When Jamie lost his central vision he lost more than just the majority of his eyesight. He lost the ability to pursue his dream of a life in the military. As Jamie tried to rebuild his life and adjust to his disability anxiety and depression set in. There would have been so many things for him to think about, like whether he should turn to someone similar to Breeze Insurance to help him get the right coverage for his disability, as well as how he was going to get about his daily life. But he was determined to not let it beat him though and used his love of sport to regain his positive outlook on life.
Jamie, who competed in running and cycling, said: “At the Invictus Games in Toronto I met lots of athletes with different injuries; some who had lost limbs. It makes you appreciate what you’ve got as I can still run and cycle. I don’t like to use the word ‘disability’ but instead focus on the ability that we have. I always see my sight loss as an inconvenience. It challenges me to solve the problems and then I get on with my life. But for me it’s really important to help educate people to see the ability and not the disability in people.”
Jamie has set up a Just Giving page and has so far raised £4,257 for H4H. He explained why he wanted to support the Charity: “Help for Heroes has been part of my recovery journey since I joined the Band of Brothers fellowship network in 2014. The opportunities they’ve given me through their sports recovery programme has led to me skiing with the Armed Forces Para Snow Sports Team and representing Great Britain at the Invictus Games. It’s really helped me to regain my confidence and experience the benefits of being around other like-minded people. More important to me though is that I’m hoping that the challenges I have had in dealing with sight loss will benefit them in their personal recovery journeys. I strongly believe that it’s not always about what you have achieved but how you have helped others achieve in life. For me I’m super proud to be part of this trek and raising funds for a great charity that changes people’s lives.
You can sponsor Jamie here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jamie-weller1
