Having lived with pain for years, Bruce Falkenberg elected to have his legs amputated. That’s when his life started to turn around...

"I was born in Zimbabwe. I think boarding school life there prepared me for the military. I was used to clothing and room inspections, the different levels of seniority and
gaining different privileges as you stepped up a grade. In the early 2000s, I came to the UK to visit my parents, who immigrated in the 90s. At the time, a lot of soldiers
from the Commonwealth were joining the British Army, and I happened to walk past a Careers Office, so I signed up.

I joined the Royal Regiment of Wales as they were gearing up for a tour of Kosovo. Soon after that tour things started to heat up in Iraq, so I volunteered as an armoured vehicle driver. I completed one more deployment to Iraq before I started having problems with my feet. The diagnosis was a severe case of plantar fasciitis and tendonitis that were causing my feet to turn up into club feet. Eventually, it reached a stage where I wasn’t deployable. I felt as though I was stuck and ended up in a very depressed state. The remedy was corrective surgery, but after years of pain, relying on medication and not making any progress, I elected to have my legs amputated below the knee in 2013 and 2015. It was the light at the end of the tunnel. That’s when my life started to turn around, and I started making gains and achieving some things.

Blesma was instrumental in getting me up and going. The Association helped me get back into cycling by providing me with a recumbent bike. I also found a new lease of life through wheelchair rugby. I joined my local team, and again Blesma stepped in to fund a bespoke rugby wheelchair. I’ve also had the Association’s support with prosthetic problems, and having my Support Officer Tom’s support through dark times has really helped me. More recently, Blesma was integral in helping me regain my independence when I suffered abnormal bone growth in my left stump, which meant I had to use a wheelchair again and needed more surgery.

I live on top of a hill and had a lift fitted to the front of the house, but it constantly broke down. My Support Officer led a collaboration between Blesma, the Royal
British Legion, Help for Heroes, ABF The Soldiers’ Charity and the NHS to replace it. Before that, I was stuck in the house or had to struggle to get up and down the drive.
I was encouraged to take part in the Invictus Games trials.

That gave me a sense of trying something new and putting myself out there, which led to me trying seated shot put. Now, I’m meeting Paralympic coaches and they’re adamant that, with the right training, I could make the grade. Attempting new things has opened doors for me, but I must be willing to put myself out there and step through them!