The IGF Conversation: The Long Term Effects of Amputation
The Invictus Games Foundation #IGFConversation focused on the long-term effects of amputation, and drew from the experiences of its Invictus community from campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as more recent deployments. In focusing on amputation, the panels considered medical research; rehabilitation best practice; contemporary treatment practices and future developments; all the while taking account of the vital lived experiences and human factor throughout.
Our Trustee, Dr Dave Henson MBE, facilitated this event. He was particularly qualified to do so as an Invictus Games alumni, seriously wounded in Afghanistan in 2011; a Paralympic medallist from Rio 2016; and having recently completed a doctorate in amputee biomechanics at Imperial College London. He was joined by a wide range of experts in the medical and research fields who all have vast experience in addressing and treating the impact of amputation.
The first panel focused on existing medical research on the long-term effects of amputation featuring Professor Alex Bennett, Head of the ADVANCE Study[1], and former Invictus Games competitor and now WIS Liaison Manager at the Invictus Games Foundation, Josh Boggi.
The second panel shared the medical advancements of rehabilitation and how this whole area in particular is evolving. Speakers for this panel included Ex-Army rehabilitation medicine and rheumatology consultant Rhodri Phillip, Professor Anthony Bull, Matt Hughes from Dorset Orthopaedic, and Major Peter Le Feuvre.
The final panel considered the importance of the human factor, as we heard from plastic and reconstructive surgeon Alexandra Crick, sport psychologist Sarah Cecil, Belgian Paralympian and former Invictus Games competitor Didier Simons as well as First Class Sergeant Francisco Jenaro Pedraza Osorio from Colombia, one of the new members of our Invictus Community of Nations.
You can download the full agenda and speaker bios here.
The #IGFConversation series launched as a virtual webinar programme in 2020 during the pandemic as the Invictus Games The Hague 2020 were postponed. Successfully bringing together the international community, we’ve since held sessions on topics such as employment; the role of sport in recovery; and the supporting role of friends and family in recovery.
The Invictus Games Foundation is very grateful to the support of Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, Ascot Rehab, BetterUp, Boeing, Fisher House Foundation and ISPS Handa in enabling this iteration of the Conversation.
[1] ADVANCE is the Armed Services Trauma Rehabilitation Outcome Study. It is investigating the long-term physical and psycho-social outcomes of battlefield casualties from the UK Armed Forces following deployment to Afghanistan between 2002 and 2014. (Armed Services Trauma Rehabilitation Outcome Study (advancestudydmrc.org.uk))