Harry and wounded warriors reach South Pole
Crippled vets do it for buddies back home
OTTAWA — Twelve wounded warriors — two of them Canadian — reached the South Pole with Prince Harry on Friday after a 320-kilometre ski trip.
They stood for souvenir photos beside the pole. There really is a pole, a red-and-white striped marker like a barber pole set up since Amundsen’s and Scott’s day.
Harry, 29, is a member of one of three teams involving injured soldiers that set out two weeks ago on the Walking with the Wounded South Pole Challenge.
The charity said Friday that the teams arrived at the South Pole at 8:25 a.m.
The prince immediately radioed home with an emotional appreciation of all the soldiers had struggled through:
“We’re here. I am about 10 metres away from the Pole. Everyone is sort of scattered now, we’ve been here for about 20 minutes, maybe half an hour. It’s an amazing feeling, it really is.
“Every single one of these 12 deserves it,” he said.
The two Canadians are Ottawa native Master Cpl. Chris Downey, now stationed in Cold Lake, Alta.; and Cpl. Alexandre Beaudin D’Anjou of Valcartier, Que.
Downey grew up in Ottawa, where he attended school and worked before joining the military. It was no easy trek for him. On the second day of skiing, he fainted and was removed from the race for about 20 hours.
“Chris always says you can overcome anything; like if you’re having a bad day, or a bad week, or even a bad hour, you can get through it,” said his father, Brian Downey, a school bus driver in Renfrew, Ont. “There was a point there, where we didn’t know if he was going to live three years ago.“
In 2010, an IED explosion in Afghanistan left Chris with a collapsed lung, shattered jaw, broken right hand and shrapnel wounds. He lost part of his upper lip, front teeth and right eye. There were bad burns on his thighs and he suffered cuts to his upper body, face and thighs. He had two aneurysms.
“He fought through his struggles and he’s at the South Pole today,” Brian Downey said. “I’m sure that wasn’t easy for him but he just keeps fighting. ... This is rehabilitation and re- covery for him and his family as well.”
Prince Harry singled out Sgt. Duncan Slater from the British team: “It’s just remarkable, the fact that someone with no legs has made it here, and to have done it in record- breaking time, no doubt.
“And Ivan (Castro) as well, when I look across I see him being guided around you know, totally blind, from America, and absolutely hates the cold, and you know he’s not doing it for himself, he’s doing it for his buddies back home. And that goes for everybody, every single one here.
“All 12 of them have different reasons for being here,” he said. “What an amazing journey for every single one of them and this charity (Walking With the Wounded) really does do amazing things.
“It’s not just for the small minority that are here but hopefully in time to come through the documentary, and all the stories back home. It will just prove to everybody that there’s so much that can be made possible when you think that nothing is left.
“But I’m so proud, I’m so chuffed and I’m so privileged to be here with all these guys and girls. … What an amazing accomplishment. I think we’ll be having a few whiskies tonight and then everyone’s looking forward to getting home.”