Battle Back to sport and fitness
Major Martin Colclough runs Battle Back at DRMC Headley Court. From his small office high in the historic building, he is organising sporting opportunities and training which would challenge the fittest. He talks about his adventurous approach to rehabilitation.
A sporting fanatic, Colclough has a personal passion for sport and learning and enthuses about the value of his role: "Sport is a great way to have fun and get together. Our guys are competitive, risk-taking animals and sport is a way back to being active and discovering new opportunities."
Battle Back was launched last year as a tri-service initiative to provide opportunities for seriously-injured personnel to experience the physical and confidence-boosting benefits of a range of activities. The brainchild of Lieutenant Colonel Fred Hargreaves, it is proving a great success as it helps patients readapt to their previous activities or introduce them to new challenges.
Colclough explains that as long as an activity is not contraindicated by their rehabilitation programme, there are no restrictions to what is available: "When someone is ready, they can take part in a number of activities – from evening and weekend opportunities to others of longer duration – that will fit in with and underpin their rehabilitation.
"There is no limit to what is on offer, from trekking and climbing to cycling and sailing. By integrating in existing able-bodied programmes and with the Para Olympic sporting movement, they are able to provide well-established coaching systems and join in existing programmes. "We use military resources and 'up skill' participants to create an inclusive environment which helps raise disability awareness and is beneficial to all involved."
The courage and determination of the participants is matched by the ingenuity of the prosthetists and technicians who adapt and create limbs and other equipment. Golf carts have been adapted to tilt patients with spinal injuries into position, coaching techniques developed for playing with one arm and prosthetic limbs created for numerous different sports.
As one of two full-time officers at Headley Court, Colclough stresses that the responsibility for rehabilitation lies with the medical staff, physios and clinicians but Battle Back can complement their work by increasing confidence and self-esteem. "They experience the same pleasure, thrills and discomfort that we all do and this can lead to a return to an active lifestyle that will benefit their rehabilitation. Their sporting life may be changed, but it is not over..."
Battle Back is a single point of contact for wounded personnel seeking sports and adventure opportunities. It is also for instructors or prospective event organisers looking for policy guidance, clinical or relevant Service charity contacts and general advice on setting up adventurous or sporting activity for posttrauma Service personnel.
Mirror box for phantom pain
The mirror box 'tricks' the mind into believing that an amputated limb is moving by mirroring the existing limb. The patient places a limb into one side of the box and the stump of the amputated limb into the other. The mirror sees a reflection of the healthy limb where the missing limb would have been and receives artificial visual feedback that this is moving.
Invented by Vilayanur S. Ramachandran it is used to treat phantom limb pain by giving visual feedback that convinces the patient that they can still move the phantom limb.