To say the military veteran is a force of nature would be an understatement. Having just witnessed him deliver a rugby session at a Downs Syndrome Speech and Language Therapy Camp run through Disability Sport Wales, the 37-year-old performed miracles that, if I hadn’t seen with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed.
Children who started the course reserved, cautious and reluctant to engage with him and his assistants from the Welsh Rugby Union, including Wales Women representatives Shona Powell-Hughes, Bethan Dainton and Sian Williams, were by the end of it running around with beaming smiles on their faces and having the time of their lives. It was difficult to see who was enjoying the session more, Darren or the children?
Then it struck me. Darren has only one leg.
Darren joined the army in 1998 and served seven years with the Royal Regiment of Wales before transferring to the 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards in 2005. Having already served in Northern Ireland, Kosovo and Iraq, it was while in Afghanistan his life would change irrevocably.
In 2008 he was lead callsign on a routine patrol when his Mastiff armoured vehicle hit an improvised explosive device (IED) while travelling through Musa Qala, Helmand Province.
The vehicle bore the brunt of the explosion, however Darren and two of his team sustained injuries. At the time he was unaware he had suffered a mild traumatic brain injury and damage to his foot and ankle that would ultimately lead to an amputation four years later.
“When the floor plates of my vehicle burst, the bolts went up to the ceiling while one of the washers – the size of a 50p piece – went through the heel of my boot and shattered my foot. My leg was pretty trashed, I had numerous operations but in the end I was on so much morphine I couldn’t walk and I had to use crutches. So I had to cut it off.”
Before he made the life-changing decision to have his limb amputated, Darren bravely soldiered on with his injuries. For four years he was treated at Headley Court in Surrey, the UK’s main rehabilitation centre for seriously wounded servicemen and women.
Remarkably, gallows humour shines through when Darren speaks of his missing limb as a ‘bit of a scratch.’
“I have a lot of friends who are seriously injured and a single below the knee amputee in the military in injured terms – this is just a scratch. My friend Cayle Royce has rowed the Atlantic twice and he is missing both of his legs, half his face got ripped off – the guy is a legend – he is someone who is seriously injured.”
After years of excruciating rehab and in constant pain, Darren’s ultimate sacrifice was not a difficult choice for him to make in the end, as he explains: “It was an easy decision – honestly. I can remember sitting in the house looking out the window on a summer’s day watching my kids play outside, while I’m in a morphine-induced stupor thinking what kind of dad am I?
“I couldn’t engage with the outside world – I was a slave to my medication. The first thing I would reach for in the morning were my painkillers whereas now the first thing I reach for is the pillow to put over my head to quieten the noise, as the youngest is crying,” he laughs.
And he hasn’t looked back. Since leaving the military he has cycled across the state of New York with other injured soldiers and climbed Ben Nevis. He has become a qualified Personal Trainer, and taken part in the US Air Force Trials in Nevada, winning a gold in the cycling and bronze in the shot put. He was also selected to represent the British Armed Forces at the 2015 Warrior Games, winning silver medals for both shot put and discus.
More recently he withdrew from the Invictus Games selection process to dedicate his time to a WRU Disability rugby pilot, seeing it successfully through to completion, with the culminating festival being held at The Sportsyard in Rhondda Cynon Taf.
“During my recovery at Hedley Court, the value for me of adapted sport for an individual is huge and that is why I got involved in rugby in the first place,” said Darren.
The 18-stone motivator makes no secret of the fact that rugby has re-invigorated him and given his life purpose.
“Everything I’ve noticed since being injured is you adapt the world around you to suit your needs. So you’re not disabled but trying to be enabled, trying to enable yourself to be what you were,” he explains.
Darren’s first steps to recovery began when he started watching his son and daughter play rugby for Ystradgynlais. He then completed his Level 1 coaching course with the WRU and has made it his mission to ensure all children of all abilities have the opportunity to play rugby.
“Coaching has given me a purpose – for me when I got involved at Ystradgynlais it was different because I got Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with my injuries – there is always a lot of self-doubt.
“I always project as a quite confident guy, but after a training session I will initially go and speak to my wife and ask how was that? Whereas before I was injured I wouldn’t have given it a second thought – I was driven and determined. For me, rugby has helped me a lot to find the confidence within myself again.
“For me, it’s about getting children playing and enjoying themselves – playing their national sport. Kids are kids, all they want to do is run around and have fun and Welsh kids want to play rugby.
“When I attended the Disability Six Nations at Ystrad Mynach and met all the children, and the teachers, I saw how awesome the event was. It gave children the chance to showcase their ability.
“We had children there that could not engage, but slowly they’ve become more and more involved – it’s about using the medium of rugby to engage with these children with low self-esteem or those who are uncomfortable in different situations – it’s all about trying to get them enjoying themselves and engaged and primarily having fun.”
Darren continues to spread the gospel of rugby as a community coach and alongside the WRU he is determined to continue to develop different forms of disability rugby and inspire more people with disabilities to not just play rugby, but also try out coaching throughout Wales.
If Darren has inspired you, why not sign up for a coaching course, by CLICKING HERE
