Invictus Games Athlete Mac McLaren: How Fitness Gave Him Purpose After Life-Changing Injury
I joined the army when I was 21 and served in Bosnia, Northern Ireland and the Middle East. Five years in, in 2003, I was breaking for cover while in Iraq when I turned and the lower part of my leg stayed put while the upper part rotated. My foot ended up pointing 30 degrees the wrong way. My team dragged me out of there and we all got back to base. The adrenaline meant I didn’t feel it instantly, but I looked down and thought, ‘Well, that’s not right.’
I spent the next 15 months doing rehab before being medically discharged in March 2005. The feeling took me by surprise. One minute you’re serving, the next you’re not and you’re like, ‘What just happened?’
For years after that I was lost and on a self-destructive path. I lived in my car for over a year and had suicidal thoughts. But around the same time, I was accepted into the veterans housing charity, Stoll, and it felt like I was pulled from the abyss.
Prince Harry visited while I was at Stoll and, because I’d been doing some sports photography, he asked me to shoot the Invictus Games in Orlando in 2016. We then went to the Toronto Games and Harry asked why didn’t I give it a go? When the boss man says you should have a go, you have a go.
Invictus introduced me to sports I’d never have thought about, like wheelchair rugby. I first tried to compete at the 2019 Sheffield trials and it lit a fire in me that I thought was long gone.
I didn’t make the team straight away. In fact, I failed to qualify for three successive Games. Thinking of my family helped keep my spirits up. My late mum, aunt and gran were the strongest women I’ve ever known, and I thought to myself, ‘They wanted me to keep doing it. I’m going to keep going until I get there or I’ve got nothing left in me,’ and I didn’t give up on it.
At the same time as I was applying for my first Invictus, I got involved in strongman, too, after loving it on TV as a kid. The gym I used was adaptive to me being disabled and I qualified for the World’s Strongest Disabled Man in Iceland that year. I ended up setting a world record, lifting 120kg in the Atlas stones and 100kg in the log press.
I finally had my leg removed in February of 2023 after about 16 years of living in constant pain with a leg that did nothing but keep me upright. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
A few months later, I finally made the team for the Invictus Games. When I heard the good news, it was a huge weight off my shoulders, knowing I could move on to the next stage of my journey, with my first Games in February. I’ll be captain of the rugby team, which is so humbling. Invictus and Team UK have so many amazing people involved. We all support each other, and I think the strength I’ve gained from strongman has helped with the rugby in Invictus.
Now, I’ve taken a year off strongman to see where Invictus takes me. Getting a place on the team means that everything I’ve been fighting for has come to fruition. I want to tell everyone who’s had doubts or had that ‘no’ to just keep fighting.
The Royal British Legion, in partnership with the Ministry of Defence, is proudly supporting Team UK and its 62 competitors, who are all wounded, injured and sick serving Armed Forces personnel and veterans. The multi-generational team includes participants from all services who have been selected based on the benefit the Games in Vancouver Whistler will contribute towards their recovery.
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