Jenn Rowell

jrowell@greatfallstribune.com

Wounded warriors recently gathered at the Warrior Games in Colorado and Invictus Games in London.

For the athletes, it wasn't about highlighting their injuries.

It was about celebrating everything they had accomplished in spite of their injuries.

Tech Sgt. Christopher D'Angelo, currently assigned to the 819th RED HORSE Squadron at Malmstrom Air Force Base, competed this year and brought home some hardware.

At the Invictus Games, he took silver in wheelchair rugby, and bronze and silver in indoor rowing.

The games in London were organized by Prince Harry, and D'Angelo spent some time with the royal in the stands and the locker rooms.

"He's really cool," D'Angelo said. "I definitely didn't think he was going be like he was. He was really laid-back and chill."

D'Angelo said Prince Harry had come to the Warrior Games, which is an interservice competition for wounded U.S. service members and veterans. D'Angelo was deployed at the time.

"He saw what sports was doing for our military people, and he said, 'I want to do it, too,'" D'Angelo said.

D'Angelo, who will be 34 in December, has deployed seven times with the 819th. He's been to Afghanistan three times, and Kuwait and Iraq, among others.

On Jan. 15, 2008, he was the lead gunner in an up-armored vehicle conducting a reconnaissance mission in Iraq.

The vehicle hit a roadside bomb.

"I did see it, but it was way too late," D'Angelo said. "It was a glimmer. As soon as I turned my turret toward it, they detonated it."

D'Angelo was the only one exposed and took the brunt of the blast. He was evacuated to Baghdad International Air Base in Iraq and spent three years recovering at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He was returned to active status and remains on active duty today. He enlisted in 2000 and plans to serve a full 20 years.

"It all hit me as soon as I got home," D'Angelo said. "I personally didn't know I had any injuries. Physically, everything was healed."

But emotionally, his wife and children knew he was different.

D'Angelo said his wife, Chanda, knew for awhile and would try to tell him.

"I would just kind of shrug it off," he said.

It wasn't until he was training for the next deployment and an improvised explosive device detonated that D'Angelo realized he hadn't fully healed from the injury.

Since then, talking about the experience and sports have helped.

He was part of a team about five years ago, when he was feeling down and out because of his injury.

"When I was playing basketball … or something like that, I was different. I wasn't thinking about anything. I wasn't thinking about my accident or what happened," D'Angelo said. "So I thought if I got into the Warrior Games it would help me heal."

He returned from the Warrior Games in Colorado about two weeks ago, where he competed in shooting, basketball and volleyball.

Earlier this year, he spent two weeks in London for Invictus Games. At the games, participants are veterans who are sick, injured or combat wounded, or active duty military.

He'd never been to London and he took his wife and one of his sons.

"Everything is very old over there, and it's really cool," he said.

D'Angelo took his younger son and sister to the Warrior Games in Colorado. His sister is also in the military. "She was floored" watching the athletes compete, he said.

"My son's jaw dropped to the ground watching everybody," he said. "He was pretty proud of his Dad, too, getting to watch me compete."

The games are inspiring, D'Angelo said.

"Seeing somebody run with no legs. It's amazing, it's a great feeling," he said. "It makes you just want to keep doing it and getting better."

For Kyle Reid of Chinook, it's a similar feeling.

"Warrior Games is really a sight to behold. It's a truly humbling experience," he said. "Watching so many military members that have gone through so much to overcome their disabilities to compete or to get personal bests, even to someone who has the same disabilities it truly does bring a tear to your eye."

Reid competed there last year, too, and this year he earned three gold medals and one silver in swimming. He didn't medal in his track events but set personal records.

He deployed to Afghanistan in March 2011 as a landing support specialist with Combat Logistics Battalion 7, Combat Logistics Regiment 17. When he returned home, he spent about a year hiding the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

He was experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations and had night terrors that kept him from sleeping.

In 2012, he was diagnosed with conversion disorder, a severe form of post-traumatic stress, which causes his body to seize and shut down.

Reid said when his anxiety levels gets too high, he has nonepileptic grand mal seizures.

Shortly after he was diagnosed, Reid and his wife, Andee, started training their puppy as a service dog.

The dog, Shamus, is able to hear Reid's heartbeat and can tell when it's getting too fast, Reid said. The dog will do something physical like lay on him, put a paw on Reid or his head on Reid's lap. If Reid does go into a seizure, the dog is trained to stay with him.

Shamus travels just about everywhere with Reid and went to practice and events at Warrior Games.

At home in Bozeman, Shamus also goes to most classes with Reid at Montana State University.

Reid is now hoping to compete at the Olympic trials for a chance to be part of Team USA for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

His stress levels dissipate when he's competing and around other military members, Reid said.

"For a short while it seems like I don't even have the disability that I have," he said.

His condition can improve, but in his case, it hasn't yet.

During different times of the year, he experiences different levels of anxiety, memory loss or hallucinations.

From July 16-Oct. 28, the hallucinations, seizures and anxiety get worse. That's around the time of the anniversary of his deployment. From November through February or March, he said the seizures get better, but his memory capacity drops about 50 percent and he forgets things.

From March to June, he has fewer seizures and his memory returns.

Reid is in his second year at MSU and trains regularly at a local gym.

He said being on campus can be stressful since he's surrounded by thousands of strangers so he tries to make at least one friend in every class.

"I'm lucky enough to have a lot of veterans on campus so I can always find refuge in our vet center," he said. "It's not that civilians make me uncomfortable, but they don't understand the things that I've been though. So when I talk to other veterans, I know that they understand better."