RSA Review Spring 2020

RSA REVIEW • spring 2020 5 mission and as tough as you think you are.These are all things that bounce around the head of a young paratrooper.” Dave sawa lot of combat action, which came at a high physical andmental cost. Hewanted a break from active service and to try something different for awhile, andmidway through 2008, applied for the RedDevils Parachute Regiment. “To be selected, you traditionally have to be part of the British Paratroopers and have to have had a bit of time in active service on the front line. They’re also wanting maturity, as well the ability to speak publicly because you are always in the public eye..” He had been part of the Red Devils for a year when his accident happened. He refuses to point any finger of blame, but saysjumpingthatdaywasborderlineatbest–too windy, too cloudy, and a list of things small and minor that went wrong, culminating in a bad decision as he came in to land. “With the high winds I was travelling very fast. When you’re coming in to land you always want to be facing into wind, so I did what’s called a low-hook turn. I put myself in a very bad position and came in really really fast. I realised I was too lowand hit the ground hard.” He says the road to recovery startedwhen his little toe moved as he lay on his hospital bed. “The doctor started poking me with a pin and asking if I could feel this or that, which I couldn’t. Finally he got to the little toe and I couldn’t move it. So he patted me on the head, gave me some morphine and said ‘Enjoy yourself’. When I woke up the next morning I could move that toe at will.” Improvements came daily until Dave could get into awheelchair, then a zimmer frame, and then rehabilitate back to unassisted walking. “It was an incredible feeling, but you kind Visits from charities, plus the examples and lesson from fellow patients, were Dave Benfell's inspiration when years later he foundedSSAANZ–Soldiers, Sailors, Airmens Association of New Zealand. TheDefenceMedical RehabilitationCentre at Headley Court, England was amazing, he says. " You had triple amputees fromAfghan— you had guys with no legs and all these serious injuries, and almost every one of them had a positive mental attitude. "They were all trying to do the best they could, get back as much as they could, and stay fit through physio and everything else.” A story about a young South African paratrooper who had lost both legs and an arm comes to his mind. “He was in the gym tied into the seat of a hand-rowing machine and he was rowing with his one arm, covered in sweat, and that’s all he could do. " But my point is: How can you feel sorry for yourself, how can you look at that and not be inspired? It’s just infectious when you’re around people like that.” Charities were frequent visitors to the hospital, coming to talk about what they could offer and do for the injured. Amilitary charity calledBattle Back taught Dave how to dive and took him diving in Cyprus andMalta, all paid for. Another char- ity came in and said that if you can swing a golf club, we will teach you to play golf, buy you clubs and send you overseas on trips. "I was blown away that people would care so much,” he says. While good fortune, good medical care and support, alongwith true grit andmental toughness, propelledDave beyond physical disability, it would be New Zealand’s great outdoors and the continuing need for the mission that nourished his mind. Though strongly supported by family, he still felt isolated and alone, and finally reached out to what he knew to be his lifeblood—the outdoors. “New Zealand has world-class outdoors, and you just have to get out there and use them. So, I started to get back into hunting and I started kayaking and kayak fishing. "When I had my low points and was feeling really down, I would head to the bush and the mountains. I wasn’t able to go far because I was really weak. So I am out there by myself and in the elements, and I’m pushing myself. For me, it was the best medicine ever.” The outdoors got him through those low times without medication, improved his fitness and gave him something to look forward to. “Bit by bit I got back towhere I am today— I’m just in this incredible place now and feel amazing. "But in those days it was a slippery slope. I was still dealing with stuff from Afghan, dealing with my injuries, all the things I had lost, and I was by myself. I used to suffer quite badly from panic attacks that were linked to Afghanistan, but I don’t get so many of those any more. My crutch was my outdoors and that is what got me through—that was my medication.” Helpingothersandpassingonwhat helped him was part of Dave’s therapy and led to the formation of SSAANZ. “SSAANZ is more than helping people who are down—it’s also about building a community that supports each other better through outdoor adventures and a common mission. "It’s about bringing all the people together who have served, having that commonal- ity, giving them bonding experiences, and making thembetter able to talk about these things.” Support Dave Benfell on the hunt: 'My crutch was my outdoors and that is what got me through—that was my medication.' of blow through it as you set these goals for yourself and tell yourself you need to do this or that and keep fighting away at it. The improve- ments happen incrementally, but after each increment you have another goal to reach.” Shortly into his rehabilitation he was trans- ferred to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court, in Surrey, England. Rehabiltation took 18 months. Unable to rejoin his Para regiment in active service, he entered civilian life and returned to New Zealand. He now lives with damage to his spinal cord and nerves, a weakened right leg, numbness to his left leg and varying degrees of nerve pain.