Michelle Turner - A Life Changed and Saved Through the Invictus Movement
Former RAF sergeant Michelle Turner, served for 21 years and first competed in the Invictus Games Toronto 2017. Michelle has a heart condition that developed while on deployment. A nasty bug left her with postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) which means that her heart fires up randomly, causing her to regularly collapse without warning.
On one occasion, her then four year old daughter, Maya saved her life by dialling 999 when she collapsed at home. Through fear of falling and injuring herself in public, she had confined herself to her home and didn't leave the comfort of her house for nearly 6 months straight.
From her hospital bed after 50 collapses, her husband encouraged her to apply to Team UK. The training camps enabled her to reconnect with her military family, and find a new sport in swimming and she made her debut at the Invictus Games Toronto 2017.
Toronto 2017 helped her on her recovery journey but she set herself a new goal and that was to become a captain of Team UK at the Invictus Games. She accomplished her goal at the Invictus Games Sydney 2018 as she was named Vice-Captain and participated in swimming, indoor rowing and powerlifting.
Michelle's competitive journey with the Games helped her to achieve her goal of making her daughter proud. She has since supported other WIS as they embark on their Games journey and she continues to serve by volunteering with the Invictus Games Foundation in activities beyond the Games.
Michelle alongside her husband John and daughter Maya attended the Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral on May 8th, 2024 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games Foundation and read a poem that they wrote together to reflect on the impact the Invictus Games had on their lives.
"Thank you Invictus for giving me my mum back. Thank you Invictus for giving me my wife back. Thank you Invictus for giving me my life back." - Were the final words of the poem spoken by John, Maya and Michelle Turner who were thanked by those in attendance with an emotional standing ovation.
You can watch the full poem below.