Chris McGowan’s wound isn’t visible, but, like so many other veterans at the 2025 Invictus Games, it’s healing with the help of his new-found family
The forest behind Chris McGowan’s childhood home in Brampton, Ont., was the perfect playground for him and his four brothers to do the usual boy stuff.
There were plenty of hiding spots to throw apples at cars, then melt away and hide in the woods from the inevitable chase that followed. They blazed BMX tracks through the trees, naming each trail. They built stick forts and explored. During the winter, they’d slog up the big hill and speed down on their GT Racers, with the one who made it to the bottom — vitally, still on the sled — declared the winner.
His high-speed tobogganing experience was one reason why the longtime Victoria resident signed up for skeleton at the upcoming Invictus Games. The other is, he learned he’s a terrible skier.
“Yeah, I’m not a skier. I’d never skied before. We went up to Whistler in March, and I tried it. I didn’t make it down the hill … but I tried,” the 42-year old said ruefully.
“I snowboarded a few years ago. So I was like, ‘I’ve never skied. I’m gonna try it!’ And then on the bunny hill, I was getting it. I was good on the bunny hill. They asked me if I wanted to go to the top of the mountain, and I was like, ‘Sure! I can do this.’ And yeah, it took me a while to get down the hill … then my back gave away, and I actually had to get pulled down the hill because I couldn’t go anymore.”
His back shouldn’t be a problem in the other sports he’s signed up to compete with Team Canada in; wheelchair basketball, indoor rowing, and nordic skiing — the latter holding more attraction than biathlon, which he knew he’d be doing way too many penalty laps because of his poor marksmanship.
With the opening ceremonies at B.C. Place just days away on Feb. 8, the nerves are beginning to creep in for McGowan. But it’s his chance to represent the Maple Leaf one more time, just like he’d done the previous 22 years with the Canadian Armed Forces, first as a combat engineer and then as a naval cook.
The CF became McGowan’s family, after his first one fractured, scattering him and his family. By 18 he was homeless, and turned to drinking and gambling. He began hustling “fish” at pool halls to make money before turning to the skills he learned in school — cooking — and to the armed forces.
For a while, it was great. He said he served on every ship in the fleet stationed in Esquimalt, even the submarines, though he never shipped to seas with the underwater vehicles. They were long days, starting at 5 a.m. and ending at eight at night, as he and a team of seven kept the bellies and morale of the crew up with meal service.
“People need a good hot meal,” he said. “Canada was really big on getting good food; it’s not just all canned stuff. All the fruits and veggies, and they’ve turned their menus around to make it a lot healthier, and cater to all the people now that have different dietary needs. Whereas before, you just got what you got. You don’t like it? Whatever.”
He witnessed and experienced abuses that took their toll on his mental health, but it was COVID that caused him to spiral. His family, his wife, two daughters and son, were his No. 1 in life, and he’d vowed not to let it break down like his had in his youth.
“We were stuck out there for 50 days, and we just sat around, sat in the harbour, and did circles. Nobody knew when we were going home. No one would give us any answers,” he said. “And I was like, ‘this is not for me anymore.’ I’m missing home. They’re saying we’re not allowed to go home. And your family’s at home struggling.”
He said he was basically segregated from his team, stuck in a back office to crunch numbers and pull quartermaster duties, such as ordering and supply, as his struggles were a burden for his squad. It led to his discharge last summer, where he finally began getting the counselling and support he needed.
But Invictus has helped fill the hole left by the loss of that family.
“We’re all on WhatsApp groups. … We converse through them and talk,” said McGowan. “If you’re having a rough day, you can just write in there, and then people get you — they know. They can either give you a Zoom call or whatever, just to have a conversation with you.
“We’re always going to have these people that we can fall back to. … There’s 56 of us that we have; a family of people we can go to. Either they’ve gone through it, or they’re going through it right now.”
Vancouver has been dotted with signs declaring “I Am,” part of the Games’ marketing campaign. The name Invictus comes from the poem of the same name, written in 1875 by William Ernest Henley, which describes the dark and difficult journey of recovery and is testimony to strength, determination and courage. The last two lines of the poem are “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.”
The games’ core purpose is not just against each other, but against oneself as they look to regain the identity that may have been shattered during their service, whether it was physically or mentally.
North Vancouver’s Assunta Acquino, who was stationed in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2005 as a combat engineer in demolitions, mine warfare and bridging, came home haunted by PTSD. She tried to bury it, hide it, but it didn’t work.
“Once we each pulled apart the traumas and the way that we felt about it, really helped you get a different perspective on your trauma. … Pain shared is pain divided, because once you do share a bit of that pain, you realize you’re not an island.
“There are lots of other veterans out there that feel the exact same way. And then if we share a little bit of that, it divides it just a little bit.
“I’ve started life again. (I’m) so grateful. (The Games) is a life saviour. I got to represent Canada for the first half of my life in a green uniform, and now I’m doing it as Invictus. So much pride. It is overwhelming, and I just want to share that with every Canadian. I Am … honoured.”
INVICTUS GAMES 2025 EXPLAINER
• The Invictus Games were founded in 2014 by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex. Invictus means unconquered and the term embodies the spirit and resilience of the Invictus Games’ competitors. The seventh edition of this unique sporting competition for international wounded, injured, and sick military service members and veterans runs from Feb. 8 to 16 and will feature more than 550 competitors from 25 countries in 11 different sports.
• The games will not be broadcast live, but daily recaps will appear on TSN.
• The opening ceremonies at B.C. Place will be at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8, and will feature headline performances by Noah Kahan, Nelly Furtado and Roxane Bruneau. They will also be broadcast on TSN and CTV.
• For the first time in Invictus history, there will be six winter sports: Alpine skiing, snowboarding, biathlon, nordic skiing, skeleton and wheelchair curling. Other adaptive sports include indoor rowing, sitting volleyball, swimming, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby.
• The Vancouver Convention Centre will serve as the main hub of the Games. It will host the wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, indoor rowing and sitting volleyball competitions. Hillcrest Community Centre, home to the Vancouver Curling Club, will host wheelchair curling.
The UBC Aquatics Centre will host the swimming competitions in its 50m pool.
Whistler Blackcomb will host the alpine skiing and snowboarding competitions on Whistler Mountain, while the Whistler Olympic Park will host the cross-country skiing and biathlon competitions. The Whistler Sliding Centre, located above the Whistler Village on Blackcomb, will host the skeleton competition.
• Canada rotates its team every Invictus Games, though some countries send repeat competitors.
• More than 1,600 volunteers will help the games in addition to more than 500 competitors.
• 462 gold, silver and bronze medals will be presented at 167 ceremonies.