A former soldier who completed multiple tours overseas is set to compete in the Invictus Games after being persuaded by his son and best friend.
Liam Guatella, from Runcorn, will join nearly 60 other former servicemen and women who have suffered life-changing injuries as they head to Dusseldorf to represent Team UK in the Invictus Games, where he will represent the nation in shot put, discus and indoor rowing.
He was inspired to take part by his best friend, assisted by some persuasion from his eldest son.
Liam said: “My best mate did it last year and he’s encouraged me – Mark Clougherty – I watched him on TV, which was amazing.
“We’ve known each other since Hohne in Germany, more than 20 years.
“Mark was my best man, he’s nine years older than me, and he’s been inspirational.
“I supported his family when he was in hospital with cancer and we’ve become really close, my kids call him Uncle Mark.
“We watched him on TV and (eldest son) Adam said ‘Why don’t you do that, dad?’ and I initially replied by saying ‘I can’t do that!’
“It was Adam’s next words of ‘why not, Dad?’ that were the driving force behind my new challenge.”
Liam said the prospect of heading to the games is “life-changing” especially after everything he has overcome in his life so far, after being medically discharged from the Army.
The dad of two signed up to the Army aged 16 “on a whim”, joining the 1st Battalion The King’s Regiment. First he trained in the infantry then qualified as a warrior gunner, transferring to the Royal Military Police (RMP) to fulfil his “boyhood dream of being a copper”, and where he served from 2001-12.
His service record spans tours and postings of twice to Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, twice to Northern Ireland and also Germany. After early experiences that he described as “character-building” in Northern Ireland, he was deployed to Iraq for six months during the UK’s Operation Telic 1, where he was attached to the US Marines where he lost colleagues and “saw some horrific things” which he continues to struggle with today.
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Liam’s military career continued as he volunteered for Bosnia, and then he volunteered to return to Iraq during Telic 7 as part of the Theatre Investigation Group for six months, often attached to the Special Investigation Branch, before returning to Northern Ireland to work with weapons intelligence.
Next he put his name down for Afghanistan, where the “hard” experience involved attending the aftermath of improvised explosive device (IED) blasts alongside bomb disposal teams in what he regards as his “most dangerous posting”.
It wasn’t an IED though that would end his time in the Army, nor small arms or artillery, but a “freak accident” during physical training (PT), which resulted in the major loss of mobility in one his legs - a medical mystery that continues to confound doctors to this day.
He said: “That was where I got injured, it was a freak accident doing PT, I just jumped over a ditch and landed heavily on my left side and felt a pop at the top of my leg and lost all major movements from the hip down – today, if I lie flat, I can’t lift my left leg and the medics have been baffled ever since.
“I was medevacked straight to Headley Court (rehab hospital) and I’ve been to numerous specialists.
“I looked like a human pin cushion at times, dozens of doctors have tried to work out what the problem is.
“They did nerve studies, MRIs, EMG tests, but we’re still none the wiser.
“It meant I couldn’t deploy anymore and had to take a desk job in the Historical Investigations Team.”
Soon after the injury, his wife Lisa became pregnant so he took medical discharge in 2012 and the family-to-be settled in Runcorn, with Liam relieved to avoid having “to ride a desk for the next 10 years”.
The change was “tough” at first, and he volunteered with youth clubs and St John Ambulance but still he faced “demoralising” rejection, even where he was turned down for a job picking litter due to “lack of experience” despite 14 years in the Forces dealing with “serious incidents and suspected terrorists”.
Some telesales work followed and the Royal British Legion funded him to work with people aged 16 to 25 on a youth engagement programme for a year, and where he began to build connections with schools and which he attributed to putting him “on the right path”, albeit suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) resulting in a self-referral to Combat Stress, which he said saved his life in around 2014.
Liam said: “Unfortunately, I was already at a low ebb and my PTSD had really started to emerge.
“At the lowest point, I was ready to end my life, but thankfully I did a self-referral to Combat Stress and a six-week residential course with them literally saved my life.
“It was the turning point for me and got me into coping strategies and helped me massively.”
From there he signed up with an agency as a teaching assistant eventually landing a full-time permanent job in a school, opting to keep his PTSD under wraps other than a few close confidants, but opening up in time following counselling and support in the various schools where he’s worked and he’s “no longer ashamed of the PTSD”, rising to become head of year at the King’s Leadership Academy in Woolston, Warrington.
Gradually, Liam’s recovery from his experiences transformed into helping others, and he no longer hides his PTSD and instead uses his insights to hold presentations and assemblies and “break the stigma around mental health”.
He said: “I will never be rid of PTSD, it’s part of my DNA now and I accept it.
“It still affects me quite badly, around Bonfire Night, New Year, Remembrance, it can be horrendous.
“I have seizures, but I know they’re coming, so I hide it from the kids, I just go upstairs and cope with it away from them.
“On Bonfire Night I try to do something different – last year I wore headphones and a baseball cap, and I went to a display with the boys, I just kept my eyes shut and danced.
“I did it for the kids, really, I was just fed up of them not having their dad there, so I was having a party in my head for one, just bopping away to the music.
“I struggle with the flashes and the bangs out of the blue.”
Despite those challenges, the former Kingsman’s incredible recuperation has taken off in a new direction, half a continent away from his struggles after leaving the RMP.
Later this year he will be competing in the Invictus Games and said the prospect of the games is "life changing".
He said: “I look at the impact that the recent training camps have had on both myself and my family, realising this is only just scratching the surface.
“Attending the camps has given me a fresh perspective on my future with several medical and health hurdles that I’m going to be able to overcome.
“My weight has dangerously increased since leaving the Forces, which is down to my physical injury and restrictions.
“My mental health, but more specifically the PTSD, plagues me on a daily basis, which puts elements of doubt in my mind that I can continue in this fashion.
“The training camps have already given me a new outlook on life, which I know will allow me to be a better role model, husband and father.
“I see that I have the potential to be good at a new sporting event, that I can compete against others through sport, that I can hold my head up high and be proud of my past and be excited once again about my future.
“I have that goal to lose weight and remain healthy to be ready for the games and be the father, husband and proud person I want and know I can be, to have the honour and privilege to be part of the Invictus family will prove to myself that I can be that person.”
He added: “My commitment to my recovery is going to be seen through the eyes of my children, the students I mentor, in the lovely eyes of my wife and every time I look in the mirror.
“Being part of the camps and part of the Invictus family has opened my eyes on who I want to be.
“Having the opportunity and goal to represent Team UK and make people proud will be the driving force to become better at the event, encourage others, spread the positivity and key message that the Invictus Games stands for.
“Putting my training kit on with purpose, making the positive choice when preparing my meals not let anything come between me and my goal to be the best person I can be.
“To compete with honour and pride, showing others that no matter what you struggle with, you can still achieve and hold your head up high.
“I won’t give up when it gets hard, won’t stop encouraging my teammates, (and) will be proud to once again wear a uniform that represents passion and determination.
“After the games and no matter what the result, you will have a brother, friend, a voice to encourage others to not give up and be proud to be part of Team UK and the Invictus games.
Looking beyond the games Liam said: “I have already joined Warrington Athletics Club and I’m training with them twice a week, thanks to the head coach there, and I want to go to the forthcoming training camps with a strong preparation.
“I refuse to let my disability hold me back, I’ll give it a right go.
“It’ll hinder me, but it won’t stop me.
“More than anything I want to be part of a team again - when I went to the training camps over
Christmas, I was talking to like-minded people and feeling relaxed for the first time in ages.
“A lot of the other competitors have PTSD, you can tell by their mannerisms, but it felt normal to me, and it’s something I haven’t experienced in ten years.”
Liam will be supported by his wife Lisa and sons Callum, nine, and Adam, 12, at the games this autumn.
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