A pair of skis and a prince are empowering Lynn Valley’s Assunta Aquino to fight PTSD and take aim at the podium of this month’s Invictus Games.
Proudly wearing the maple leaf
Courtesy of Solider On.
The world will be watching Vancouver next month when more than 550 athletes from 25 nations come to participate in the 11 sports that make up the Invictus Games. The international competition – founded by a team featuring Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex – is for athletes who are sick or injured military service personnel or veterans. For Aquino, donning her Team Canada kit is a powerful step forward in her recovery and an opportunity to proudly represent Canada again.
“I am so excited,” said Aquino between training sessions at Whistler. “I feel like I am starting life again. I have goals – so many things I want to do. I am a better mom being pulled out of my head to the present.”
Selected from hundreds of applicants, Aquino got the call telling her she was on Team Canada in the fall of 2023 – one of two from the Lower Mainland and a handful from BC. It will be a completely different experience than the first time she donned the maple leaf: as a member of Canada’s military for more than 24 years.
Impacts of service
Aquino’s service began after hearing from a high school classmate about their career in the military.
Courtesy of Solider On.
“They deployed to Bosnia during the active war in Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina, returned and told me all about it. I thought this was my calling,” she said. “My role was as a combat engineer as a non-commissioned officer, those with an engineering degree are officers and I did the combat side. I learned mine warfare, mine awareness [reducing the dangerous impacts of mines and explosives], bridging to get troops in or out of zones and demolition, which is used on both of those things – destroying mines or bridges.”
With nine years of deployment to war zones, Aquino’s service – particularly an incident in 2005 where colleagues were lost demining – injured her mental health. While it was impactful at the time, the effects and realization it resulted in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) came later.
“The next opportunity for deployment was Afghanistan. My husband and I had a conversation that if we want to start a family I can’t deploy. I knew I couldn’t go into another warzone,” said Aquino.
What followed was the balance of working within the military and being a mom of three while dealing with the lasting injuries of PTSD.
“I am very lucky it’s not physical but emotional and mental,” she said. “But I have said things I can’t take back, woke up in a bad mood or didn’t show up on time or manage what I was needing to for my kids. If you were to ask them they would gush with love but they would also talk about the other side with PTSD. I am aware of what was happening on the outside because of what was happening in my head.”
Those effects were severe.
“I was retired before I was ready in 2015. Those intervening years [before the Invictus Games] were not filled with a lot. Being a mom is incredible but there is a huge part of you that feels like you are no longer contributing. People try to tell you otherwise but I was just marking time.”
Ultimately, Aquino sought more support with inpatient care through the Ravensview Guardians Program for first responders and military personnel.
“It’s a challenge. I am learning to live with it. It’s taken a lot of acceptance and that has happened just recently.”
Game on
Today, Aquino is effervescent on the eve of the Invictus Games, taking place in Whistler and Vancouver Feb. 8-16. She is participating in downhill skiing, swimming and seated volleyball.
Courtesy of Assunta Aquino
“I didn’t know [the games] existed until my husband told me about it 18 months ago,” she said. “I withdrew so fully from the military I didn’t pay attention. I didn’t watch the news because it was too scary. My world got very, very small. You’re isolated, not just cut off from the world in your home, you are isolated inside yourself.”
After a family discussion on whether she was mentally strong enough to share her story and whether her kids were comfortable with it being public, she began the application process.
“I don’t know if you are ever ready. I have struggled. Have I overshared? How will it translate down to my sport? Will I be able to keep my head in the game? It’s a lot to be ready to unpack that journey – and to do it publicly in front of your own children,” she said.
There were also the practical aspects. Invictus was offering winter sports for the first time, but athletes do not participate just within their comfort zone. Each athlete also selects new sports to set new goals, stretch themselves and find new teammates to enable them to achieve success and reframe their self-image.
“I got this opportunity and it shifted my thinking. I can do so much more in life – and I will,” Aquino said. “I would never have applied if there weren’t winter sports because skiing is my passion. Then I got to the third page of the application and it asked what are my other sports.
Courtesy of Solider On.
“I feel like I am starting life again. There are things I want to do. For my kids, they see a renewed energy in their mom. Even though I am away training, I am much more present.”
Aquino has also had a unique experience of being one of two athletes from the Lower Mainland which has given her access to the inner organization of the games itself.
“I am blown away by the planning and the volunteers putting in hours after hours to make sure every single veteran has been considered and planning what each needs to be successful at these sports.”
It also includes making sure venues, transportation and hotels are accessible to all. Another unique aspect is that the Invictus Games recognize that the traumatic impacts of service extend beyond the veteran to families. Each athlete also gets to bring two family members, giving athletes additional support and opportunities for families to be a part of this new positive experience. With her family here in Lynn Valley, Aquino is bringing two friends she met while at Ravensview for trauma care as her supporters.
“One of the coolest things about Canada being the host nation is that Canada gets to augment teams [add team members] that can not fill an event team on their own. So if a team needs six people Canada fills in those spots so that other athletes can participate and they are called Unconquered. That is exactly what Invictus is about – being unconquered.”
Coming from around the world there will be athletes participating in winter sports who have never seen snow. The games’ foundation also ensures that the athletes get future support with continued athletic opportunities and events like group treks in places like the Himalayas.
There are still tickets available to watch individual sports like wheelchair rugby and basketball, as well as the opening – featuring Katy Perry, Noah Khan, Nelly Furtado and athletes – and closing ceremonies. Plus all Whistler events (skeleton, downhill skiing and snowboarding, biathlon and nordic skiing) are free to attend.
For Aquino, it’s a chance to make her country, her community, her family and herself proud of this battle she is fighting – and winning – for herself.
“I noticed there was a full moon last night at Whistler and it dawned on me that the next time there is a full moon it will be during the games – on the days of my alpine events. When every country – every family member, every friend will be standing under that full moon together – the snow moon. Incredible.”
Looking for more?
There’s always something fun and exciting happening in Lynn Valley. Check out our Community Events Calendar or learn more about Local Activities, Mountain Biking or Hiking and Walking Trails.
