An Aberchirder army veteran will travel almost a thousand miles to represent the UK in this year’s Invictus Games.
David Jarvis, 40, was medically discharged from the army last year due to knee injuries.
The former staff sergeant was in the force for more than two decades, before his discharge last January.
He is now set to compete in swimming, cycling and indoor rowing events at the event due to take place in Germany.
Mr Jarvis said: “I was medically discharged in January last year, it was quite a shock to start with.
“It’s been a case of getting used to a new way of life. I’m still getting used to it.
“I think one of the issues was there’s always a goal when you’re in the military. When I got the medical discharge, everything just kind of imploded on itself.”
‘It’s still a bit surreal’
Mr Jarvis has been given a new focus, after being the only person living in the north-east to be selected for the Invictus Games.
“Once the dust settled, I started thinking ‘well, I need to do something’, then I heard I was eligible to have a go at Invictus, so I thought ‘why not?’.
“I travelled to the pre-selection camps down in England, I got selected and I have something to aim for again.
“It was all a bit surreal, it still is. I was chuffed, but at first I wasn’t sure if it was real or not.”
He continued: “I took cycling up in 2015 as a result of knee injuries I got when I was in the army.
“Doctors told me I needed to change the way I was doing business, if I kept doing impact training then I would’ve been in a zimmer frame before I finished my 22nd year.
“I was a little over halfway into my career at that point. It didn’t happen overnight, but after several months I started cycling to work, then I started racing and the rest is history.”
Mr Jarvis only recently became involved with indoor rowing or swimming after being involved in an accident while on his bike.
“The indoor rowing and swimming is something I got into because of the Invictus Games.
“I was involved in a cycling accident a few years back and I haven’t taken part in any sports apart from cycling since, because I didn’t want to aggravate the injuries.
“But when we were at the pre-selection camps last year we had medics in attendance and I thought ‘let’s have a go and if something goes wrong, there’s people who will look after us’.”
The Invictus Games will take place in Dusseldorf, Germany from September 9 to 16 with more than 500 competitors from 20 nations.
In the meantime, Mr Jarvis is preparing to cycle around Loch Ness at the Loch Ness Etape on April 23 to raise funds for the Erskine Veterans Charity with donations accepted on JustGiving.
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