A Powerful Journey with Invictus

Heroes Remember

A Powerful Journey with Invictus

Transcript

I was really overwhelmed. I didn’t know what I was getting into. So my sport was cycling, I didn’t cycle. I rode a couple mountain bikes like every little kid does but nothing serious. Invictus, so to go there, to meet my team first of all was like, you know, you are strangers because some people I might have crossed paths with or whatever but we came together because we knew where we were from. So Invictus and to compete, because you are living with the other athletes from the other nations so you are interacting all the time. There’s lots of laughing, there’s lots of crying but not crying out of sorrow, crying out of happiness because it is just wow, we got this chance to put on a Canadian flag again and go represent my country and not worry that someone is going to kill me or I am not going to come home. My family was with me. My family got to go to Disneyland. We were warming up on the track, Team Canada cycling team and we were in a tight formation and we were going pretty fast and we hit this one corner and my little girls had these signs, “Go Canada Go” you know and one of the guys was like, “What!” and when he looked I am telling you he almost took us all out. We almost didn’t make it to the race. And then the people and the support, it’s beautiful! These athletes today, I tell them you’re going on a trip and it’s a trip and it’s going to be an emotional trip and it’s going to be an emotional journey but open your hearts and take it all in and just love it because it’s going to affect them for the rest of their life. Especially the soldiers that aren’t serving anymore, they have lost that camaraderie. They are getting it back now. They are going to have these teammates for the rest of their lives and it’s different. Prince Harry being Prince Harry being a combat soldier, wonderful! My kids met him. Invictus is amazing. The support, the organizations behind Invictus, Soldier On they tremendously, a lot of guys say it but ya, they saved my life more than once and to be part of that again. And I find we want it all the time now. It’s kind of a bitter pill. I am sitting on the side and watching the team and I’m so happy for them, this is great, I wish I was there! I want to be there. I want to be part of you but it’s not my time, it’s your time. I had my time and now it’s your time and go and enjoy it and live it.

Description

Mr. MacEachern shares his overwhelming success in being part of the Invictus Games 2016 and the inspiration it brought back in being part of a team again!

Brian MacEachern

Mr. Brian MacEachern was born August 2, 1975 in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. With his father being a reserve soldier for over 30 years, Mr. MacEachern knew his own destiny at a very young age. Joining the reserves with the Combat Engineers division, he later specialized in combat diving and ordinance disposal. Throughout his military career Mr. MacEachern was part of the Swiss Air recovery mission and credits this exercise as being his reasons for continuing to serve in the Canadian military. In 2004 Mr. MacEachern accepted a deployment to Ethiopia and later that year travelled to Afghanistan and again in 2007 holding rank of sergeant with Combat Engineers. After being released from the military, Mr. MacEachern accepted support through Soldier On and in 2016 became a member of Team Canada Invictus Games travelling to Orlando, Florida as part of the cycling team. Mr. MacEachern continues to stay involved in the sport and now resides in Nova Scotia with his family.

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