Cardenden veteran picked for Invictus Games

Michael Mellon from Cardenden with Prince Harry.

Father-of-three Michael (37), from Cardenden, served as a Senior Aircraftman in the Royal Air Force, before being discharged in 2005. He is an amputee and lives with depression. He will be taking part in wheelchair basketball, athletics (shot put and discus) and sitting volleyball.

The Games are already having a positive effect on his life after leaving the RAF. He said: “I feel like I’m part of a team again, it’s like I’ve never been away from the Armed Forces.

“I gel with the other athletes and we have loads in common. I hope the main benefit for me will be regaining my confidence within a group, be able to talk to others and feel a part of something bigger.”

Michael, who trains with Pitreavie AAC, is also a wheelchair rugby league player and plays with the Dundee Dragons and Team Scotland.

He was part of the 90-strong team of wounded, injured and sick (WIS) serving military personnel and veterans who came together for the first time since selection at the Tower of London.

Prince Harry met the team ahead of the forthcoming Invictus Games in September, and posed for the first official team photograph.

More hopefuls than ever before, 306 WIS military personnel and veterans, trialled 11 sports for one of the 90 places available on the UK team.

The 2017 UK team captain was named as former Army Major Bernie Broad.