Gatineau’s Dupuis collects three Invictus gold medals

Gatineau’s Natacha Dupuis, the cocaptain of Team Canada, has won three gold medals at the Invictus Games in Toronto.

A retired master corporal, Dupuis earned gold medals in the 100-, 200- and 400-metre races at the international athletic competition for ill and injured soldiers. She ran all three sprint finals on Monday.

Dupuis, 38, served in Bosnia and Afghanistan with the Canadian Armed Forces, and suffered debilitating post-traumatic stress after her second tour of duty in Kandahar.

In March 2009, Dupuis was leading an armoured patrol in the Shah Wali Kot district when a landmine exploded under one of the six vehicles in her convoy. Two soldiers were killed in the blast and three others seriously injured.

Dupuis was unable to sleep for the next three days and constantly relived the event. She willed herself through the final two months of her eight-month tour of duty, but needed sleeping pills at night and would often find a private place to cry during the day.

When she returned to Canada, she fell apart. Dupuis suffered powerful flashbacks, panic attacks and was haunted by a feeling of guilt for the deaths of the two soldiers under her command.

Dupuis left the military on a medical release, and she has since fought to manage her PTSD symptoms and to reclaim her life.

As part of that effort, she has embraced athletics and the Invictus Games. Last year, she won two gold medals and a bronze at the international competition in Orlando, Fla.