Anthony’s Travel helps a hero!

Hi my name is Richie O’Connell and I have been very fortunate to have had support from Anthony’s Travel this year.

I am a disabled veteran who was injured whilst serving in Afghanistan in 2010. This year I was called up to represent team U.K. for Help for Heroes in the department of defence warrior games held over in Tampa bay Florida.

I competed in Archery which is my main sport shooting in the open recurve category gaining 2nd place in the preliminary rounds of a field with 97 archers. The next day I gained 4th place in the final eliminating rounds of 8 narrowly missing out on the bronze medal by 2 points. I also took part in the air rifle event shooting in the sh1 category where I placed 16th out of 150 shooters.

The opportunity to compete at the games helped me overcome so many barriers that I had faced since leaving the forces in 2012. The biggest which has helped me overcome my own mental health conditions was being able to thank members of the helicopter teams the fly in daily helping those injured on the battlefield! This has given me closure and helped massively with my post traumatic stress.

I would never had been able to attend the games without support from the likes of Anthony’s travel and Help for Heroes sports recovery team so on behalf of myself and my family Thank You Anthony’s Travel!