I’ll have to get shrapnel op after Strictly, says Scots star
Ex-Marine says training with dance partner Amy has left him in agony
FORMER Royal Marine JJ Chalmers has said he will have surgery to remove shrapnel from his leg following the Strictly Come Dancing finale.
The 33-year-old added that the limb becomes inflamed and leaves him with a ‘tender, stinging pain’ whenever he trains for the BBC show with his professional dance partner, Amy Dowden.
But JJ, from Dunfermline, Fife, who was severely injured in a bomb blast in Helmand in 2011, said he would not let the pain slow him down.
He told The Sun: ‘My body is covered in scars and it’s full of shrapnel and frag and stuff from Afghanistan, which can sit quite happily for many years without any real issues.
‘But the problem is, this one has been exacerbated. When Amy presses up against it, it’s not a nice thing to poke at.
‘I’m not going to let it slow me down’
Unfortunately, what it does is it looks for the quickest way up to the surface of your skin, which is where the scar is.
‘It’s about a six-inch scar that’s pretty inflamed. It’s very tender, stinging.’
He added: ‘Since 2014, I’ve not gone a year without a surgery, so it’s a pretty routine thing for me, unfortunately. But I’m not going to let it slow me down. It’s amazing what you can get used to.’
JJ, who won cycling medals at the 2014 Invictus Games, is nursing his injury with antibiotics and having virtual medical appointments with his surgeon.
According to the BBC, the Strictly 2020 final will take place on Saturday, December 19, with four couples battling it out for the Glitterball Trophy.
With his appearance on the show and the prospect that he could make it to the final, it is planned that JJ will be admitted to hospital next month for surgery.
JJ, the son of former Church of Scotland Moderator John Chalmers, initially revealed that his leg had become infected when he told The Mirror last month: ‘While there’s a level of pain and sensitivity with it, it’s not anything I’m not used to... These are just the genuine sideeffects of being alive, that’s the simplest way I can put it. Until it gets to, you know, an unbearable point or a really discomforting point, I’m not going to allow it to stop me doing what I love doing. And right now that’s dancing.
‘On the flip side, it might seem quite alarming to people that I’ve done most of this competition with an infection in my leg but that’s just the reality of what happens with this particular piece of shrapnel until they remove it.’
The former Royal Marine reservist’s military career ended when he was caught up in the Helmand bomb blast, aged 23, which killed two of his comrades. The Lance Corporal and design technology teacher suffered a broken neck, lost two f i ngers and both arms were nearly wrenched off, with one elbow mangled.
Holes were blown in his leg and JJ also suffered a crushed eye socket and shattered eardrums.
John- James, to give him his formal name, went on to have 30 operations in the following years and had to learn how to walk again, dress and feed himself.
He credits Prince Harry with helping to transform his life. Since interviewing the Duke of Sussex for Invictus, the pair have become close friends and JJ and his wife Kornelia, 32, attended the Royal wedding at Windsor Castle. The couple, who live in Edinburgh, have a four-year-old daughter, Hayley, who has been eagerly following her father’s progress on the show.
In a video message played on Strictly in October, his wife told him: ‘Hi JJ, we’re so thrilled for you.
‘You are making us very, very proud. I can’t wait to waltz with you one day.’
In a recent interview with local paper The Dunfermline Press, JJ told of his love for his home town, saying: ‘Everyone on my parents’ street knows us and they’re supporting me. They have seen me grow and fulfil my dream of becoming a Marine and then watch me build my life again. To know they are behind me is so lovely.’