The swimmer, 25, from Arizona, became gravely ill when she collapsed with a lung condition on the eve of the first games in London in 2014.
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“So I gave Prince Harry one of my medals and hope it will find its way back to Papworth”.
In his speech to the thousands who gathered in the champions stadium in Orlando, Florida, Harry said: “What is the force that drives Elizabeth Marks to return to these games after almost dying two years ago, to compete now, at the highest level”.
While competing at the Invictus Games two years ago, she went into respiratory distress — nearly dying, if not for the staff of the British hospital that will now receive her gold medal.
On Tuesday, she won gold in the discus and 100 meters and also took home silver medals in four-minute indoor rowing, shot put and 200-meter dash.
The combat medic, who suffered a serious hip injury which has left her with no sensation in her left leg, was interviewed during the closing ceremony.
The Prince ended up attending the wheelchair rugby finals at Walt Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida to cheer on the United Kingdom team as they whooped up on Australia to win the bronze medal!
A former soldier who became a paraplegic after a vehicle accident has won New Zealand’s first-ever gold medal at the Invictus Games. “You showed your families, your friends and yourselves, just how far you’ve come, regardless of the result”, he said.
The first Invictus Games were held in London past year and the 2017 Games will be held in Toronto, which had a delegation on hand to accept the I Am flag. “It was premeditated, we had spoken on a different occasion about me wanting to give it to them as a token of gratitude because how do you say thanks to the people that saved your life?”
Prince Harry started the Invictus Games two years ago in London and brought them to Central Florida this year.
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Holding back tears, she said of the NHS staff who treated her: “Thank you, I’ll never be able to repay you, but what you’re doing is wonderful”.
