A man whose arm was amputated after a farm accident says his positive mindset helped him qualify for the Adaptive CrossFit Games nearly two years later.
Henry Dunn’s left arm was crushed in Australia on his gap year in November 2022.
Mr Dunn, from Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, will compete in the games which start on 19 September, with his family flying to San Antonio, Texas, to cheer him on.
“Everything is an opportunity and there’s no excuses,” Mr Dunn told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.
After graduating from university, where he studied sports injuries and rehabilitation, Mr Dunn travelled through Southeast Asia and Oceania with his girlfriend, Becca.
While working at a cattle station in Australia’s Northern Territory, Mr Dunn’s arm was crushed by a machine, and later had to be amputated after an eight hour, 500km (310m) journey to hospital with an improvised tourniquet.
“When I came home, rugby was no longer really an option for sport, so I walked into my local CrossFit in Tewkesbury,” he said.
“I met my coach, Luke Andrew, and started some rehabilitation there.
“That led to a bit more progression in the sport and now we find ourselves in Texas in the world finals.”
‘A really tough time’
Despite looking forward to his opportunity in the USA, Mr Dunn’s recovery journey was “a really tough time” after “the best year of my life” abroad.
He said he is a “big advocate” of cold water therapy, which was “the only thing I could channel my concentration on” while his skin graft was healing.
“Every time I was in the ice bath, it kind of silenced the trauma as well,” Mr Dunn said.
Almost two years on from his amputation, Mr Dunn has qualified inside the top 10 in the world in his Adaptive CrossFit division.
Mary, Mr Dunn’s mum, said the family had “no idea” they would be in Texas for the games when the accident happened 22 months ago.
“Knowing Henry and the person that he is, as one door closed, so many more doors opened,” she said.
“We are positive as a family anyway, so there was no looking back.”
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