Owen was in the Army Cadet Force from the age of 12 and always knew that he wanted to join the forces, which he did straight after finishing school. In 2009 he was deployed to Afghanistan, serving for the 1st Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment, and just 3 months later was injured when he stepped on an explosive device.
Although Owen had a shattered heel and broken tibia and fibula they managed to save his leg and he spent 18 months in rehabilitation. However, Owen was still in a huge amount of pain and made the decision to have his leg amputated below the knee. “It was an easy decision for me as I just wanted to start doing things again and getting on with life, my family were really worried for me but they can see now that it was the right thing for me to do,” Owen told us.
Since losing his leg Owen has seen a new lease of life and is taking every experience and opportunity given to him. He has been climbing, bobsleighing, skiing, waterskiing, scuba diving and kayaking in countries such as Spain, Utah and Bavaria. All this has been funded by Battle Back, a new military initiative that provides adventurous training and sport rehabilitation to help wounded service personnel to gain confidence and return to an active life.
The Training Room personal training qualification will help him further with his rehabilitation especially as he is now training to go to the South Pole. Owen is still young and doesn’t have a definite plan for what his future may hold. That said, he plans to do a waterskiing instructors course and due to his sporty nature he will make sure he’s outdoors, staying active and isn’t going to let his disability stand in his way one little bit.