Hull FC Wheelchair Rugby League player Steve Sampher has been selected to represent Team UK in the upcoming Invictus Games.
The former British Army veteran, who has more than 26 years of service under his belt, will compete in a range of sports at the games later this year – including Wheelchair Basketball, Sitting Volleyball, Archery, Table Tennis and Wheelchair Rugby. First founded in 2014 by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the Invictus Games uses the power of sport to inspire recovery, support rehabilitation and generate a wider understanding and respect for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women. The games will return for the sixth time this September in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Having left the service in April 2022, Steve is now supporting other veterans with their recovery in his role as Community Foundation Pathways Officer at Hull FC and is a key part of the club’s wheelchair team and is already on the team sheet to face Warrington Wolves at the first Betfred Wheelchair Super League Inclusion Round in Birmingham this weekend (April 15). In 2012, Steve sustained life-changing injuries while in Afghanistan serving as a Troop Sergeant, when his vehicle he was commanding was hit by an IED. His leg was badly injured and he was shot in the helmet on the follow up attack which resulted in a traumatic brain injury. Steve would later have his leg amputated after numerous operations, infections and complications to sustain the leg.
Steve is thrilled to be selected for Team UK and hopes it will aid his ongoing recovery.
“Ten years on from sustaining my injuries in Afghanistan, I still find daily challenges a struggle” Steve explains, “especially when it comes to my mental health. I find my emotional attachment and empathy levels have significantly decreased. “I am hoping that by being part of a team and sharing in this journey with the Invictus family will allow me to share in their emotional experience and help me rekindle my emotions.
“I’m looking forward to being around fellow veterans and all working towards the same goals, competing on a global stage and I hope to make a difference and my family proud, sharing in the joys and excitement of being part of Team UK. “I just can’t wait to get started and haven’t stopped smiling and I think it has already allowed me to become driven and focused and my family can already see the difference going on this Invictus journey has meant to me.”
Everyone at the Rugby Football League would like to send their congratulations to Steve and we wish him good luck for the games in September.
More information about this weekends Inclusion Round fixture in Birmingham can be found here.
