By Ashley Wiebe

Soldiers gather in Ralston for Invictus Games National Flag tour

Aug 28, 2017 | 3:59 PM

RALSTON, AB — Hundreds of soldiers gathered at Ralston School on Monday morning, as the Invictus Games National Flag tour made its way through southeastern Alberta.

“Service men and women that have experienced some kind of trauma, whether it mental or physical, it’s just showing that they can. They’ve still got everything, their whole life ahead of them. They are unconquered,” said Sergeant Fraser White, a flag-bearer for the ceremony on Monday.

White lost a friend back in 2006 just days after Christmas.

He knows pain isn’t always physical and can affect a soldier both emotionally and mentally.

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“It’s important we keep remembering these soldiers that got injured during these conflicts and during training and especially the guys, of course, [who] lost their lives as well,” he said.

White said he knows there’s one thing that helps bring the men and women together.

“Sport, in the armed forces, sport is a massive thing,” he said.

That’s the idea Prince Harry wanted to show the world, when the Invictus Games first began back in 2014. Invictus is the Latin word for unconquered.

“We’re often doing horrible stuff. Bad conditions, bad missions, and sport, adventure training, it just kind of helps you deal with it,” said Warrant Officer Simon Naylor, who works as an adventure training specialist.

Para-athlete Sarah Mickey knows the healing power sport can have.

She lost the use of her legs due to Lyme disease and admits she became depressed until she found adaptive sport.

“That’s what brought me back and it was the turning point for me,” she said. “It made me accept who I was and who I am in a wheelchair and it doesn’t change the fact that I still can play sports.”

It’s a feeling many soldier can relate to.

The Invictus Games kick off in Toronto next month, with 550 competitors from 17 countries competing in 12 sports, all proving that they can overcome the challenges faced on the front lines.

“It makes living worthwhile when you have somewhere that you can go and you know that you’re not going to be judged by anyone and you can just do what you love doing,” Mickey added.

“Iraq and Afghanistan may be in the past for a lot of us, but there’s obviously a lot of people still serving and still there, still around living with those injuries they’ve sustained,” White said.

Naylor said the games are a great way to let more soldiers to know that not all wounds are physical and that it’s okay to ask for help.

“You can shout for help, that’s what soldiers can be really bad for is admitting to themselves there’s issues with what they’ve seen, felt, experienced, physically, mentally, spiritually. The whole thing,” he said.

For more information on the Invictus Games, click here.