Maybe I can do that

Now almost three years on and equipped with an advanced prosthetic hand, he’s still able to fly, though not with the RAAF.

And he will represent Australia as one of the 72 members of the Australian team for the 2018 Invictus Games, to be staged in Sydney in October.

Early in his recovery, someone suggested he might be able to compete in sporting events like the Invictus Games. The idea firmed up as he followed the 2016 Invictus Games.

Though never much of a sportsman – flying was his passion – he thought: “Maybe I can do that.”

“It gave me some goals and benchmarks that I could set for myself in order to better my physical rehabilitation. It gave me a purpose to go to rehab and to keep trying to improve, to do an extra sit up or an extra 100 metres of running,” he said.

After a series of trials and selections camps, he was chosen to compete in the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto and will do so again later this year in Sydney.

The Invictus Games is an international sporting competition for currently serving and former serving military personnel who were wounded, injured or who became ill during military service.

For Invictus 2018, competitors from 18 nations will compete in 11 sports.

Invictus in Latin means unconquered and the Invictus Games was inspired by the Warrior Games, organised by the US Defense Department and first held in 2010.

Prince Harry, a British army helicopter pilot and veteran of two tours of Afghanistan, attended the 2013 Warrior Games, saw their positive impact on the veteran participants, deciding the UK needed something similar.

In 2014, he launched the Invictus Games, saying they would demonstrate the power of sport to inspire recovery, support rehabilitation and demonstrate life beyond disability.

The first Invictus was held in London six months later. Subsequent games have been held in the US in 2016, Canada last year and this year Australia.

This isn’t like the Olympics in which any nation can participate and only invited nations get to send a team.

Young Nathan Parker, now 23, dreamed of flying.

“Since the age of five or six I had wanted to fly Hornets,” he said.

While still at school he started flying lessons at the Northern Rivers Aero Club in Lismore, northern NSW.

“I obtained my RA-Aus recreational pilot certificate with a cross country endorsement and loved spending time at the aero club at weekends,” he said.

On completing year 12, he went through two weeks of RAAF Flight Screening at Basic Flying Training School in Tamworth and was accepted into the Australian Defence Force (ADF), starting at ADFA as a pilot trainee, studying for the Bachelor of Technology (Aviation) degree.

On graduation, he would expect to return to Tamworth for basic flight training and then proceed through the training system, hoping to be selected for fast jet training.

It was not to be and he acknowledges his brief time on CT4s during initial flight screening was the sum total of his military flying.

The accident that ended his dreams occurred on November 21, 2015 on a country road mid-way between Jervis Bay and Canberra. A number of cadets were injured.

“We were going around a bend. The bus swerved to the right, before quickly rolling to the left. I am not sure of the exact cause of the rollover but the bus ended up lying on its side across the road,” he said.

“I remember everything up to the bus rolling going past 45 degrees and then have no recollection until I woke up not long after the bus had come to a stop, still trapped in the bus.”

His left hand was severely damaged and pinned between bus and road. His right, dominant, hand suffered some tendon damage and his face was severely lacerated.

Parker said he was extremely fortunate ADFA staff applied tourniquets and first aid, probably saving his life.

“It was a considerable length of time I was trapped in the bus. I was fully conscious when they pulled me out, put me on a helicopter and flew me to hospital in Sydney.”

As the pain medication wore off on his second night in hospital after the first of many operations, he began to realise his life had changed irrevocably.

“I distinctly remember the loss of my childhood dream hitting me harder than the loss of my hand. That was a pretty low point. I was lying there in the hospital bed thinking I was staring down the barrel of a medical discharge the next day,” he said.

‘I distinctly remember the loss of my childhood dream hitting me harder than the loss of my hand.’
Nathan Parker

“I was extremely lucky. Defence was incredibly supportive, allowing me to stay in, to go through the rehabilitation and ultimately return to ADFA to finish my degree and military studies while we investigated what was possible.

Replacing his amputated left hand is a myoelectric prosthetic, essentially a bionic hand.

“I slide my residual limb into the prosthetic and by flexing muscles in my forearm, I can control the hand – make it open and close. change to different grip patterns, and even rotate the wrist,” he said.

“It’s pretty impressive technology. I am able to link it to my phone for added functionality.”

“Two weeks after I got my prosthetic hand in February 2016, I went back to the Northern Rivers Aero Club in Lismore to see if the technology would enable me to fly.

“I sat in the cockpit on with some of the instructors there, before going for a flight with the CFI and looking at what I could and couldn’t do with the prosthetic.”

What he could still do was fly, though he admitted it was initially challenging. By working with his instructors, prosthetists and occupational therapists, he re-learned how to operate the various switches and controls, regaining his RA-Aus Pilot Certificate in July 2016, and his RPL earlier this year.

“I have an electronic hand and an electronic hook. Depending on which aircraft and which seat I am flying in, I change which prosthetic I use,” he said.

“Initially it was daunting, but now it’s my way of connecting to the aircraft and holding the control column, just like anyone else would.”
He said there was now more involved in flying as he didn’t have the same amount of proprioception as someone with both hands, making it harder to detect small changes in the aircraft control column.

According to the group Sensory Processing Disorder Australia, proprioception is the process by which the body can vary muscle contraction in immediate response to incoming information from external forces, using receptors in the muscles to keep track of the joint position in the body.

“I have a greater reliance on visual cues. However, I think it has made me a better pilot because there is a greater emphasis on attitude flying and accuracy of inputs,” he said.

‘I think it has made me a better pilot.’
Nathan Parker

Two weeks before the accident, he received his recreational pilot licence in the mail but never got to use it.

Even with a modern prosthetic, his military flying career is over and he’s and he’s looking to pursue civilian flying outside the ADF.

“Unfortunately, due to the nature of military flying and where the prosthetic technology is currently at, I won’t be able to be a pilot in the military until the prosthetic technology improves significantly,” he said.

“So now I am looking at exploring my options in civilian flying and I am back here at Lismore at the aero club where I initially learned to fly.

“I am almost at the point of achieving my RA-Aus instructor rating. It’s been a fun experience not only re-learning to how to fly, but now how to share my passion through instructing as well. It has been an incredible journey so far, especially considering that nearly three years ago I never thought I would fly again.”

And then there’s the Invictus Games to be held from October 20-27. In 2017, he competed in 100, 200 and 400 metre athletics, 50 metres freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke swimming plus indoor rowing.

Indoor rowing doesn’t involve water or a boat, just a rowing machine, with winners decided by how much distance they cover in events of one minute and four minutes.

Parker initially didn’t think that would work with a prosthetic hand.

“The indoor rowing coach for the Australian Invictus team last year encouraged me to give it a crack at the trials in January, then in September I managed to win two silver medals,” he said.

This year he’s competing in the same running and rowing events.

And like all the contestants, he’s looking forward to chatting with the personable Prince Harry who he met last year.

“It was a pretty awesome experience. He is a really down to earth person who is truly invested in and dedicated to creating opportunities for veterans and supporting them through activities such as the Invictus Games,” he said.

“I know everyone is pretty keen to meet him this year.”

Prince Harry is likely to be accompanied by his new bride, American actress Meghan Markle.

And after that?

“I have my sights set on obtaining my commercial licence and seeing how far I can go, experiencing as many different aircraft as possible. I definitely want to get into competition aerobatics, but I have a bit of work to do before that. I’m just excited to see where the journey leads,” Parker said.