A Port Erin man has competed at the Warrior Games in Chicago, a prestigious event for injured army veterans.

Michael Ryan was selected for the UK team to compete in the two-week games against veterans from the US and Australia.

The Warrior Games is held each year in America and inspired Prince Harry to set up the Invictus Games in the UK.

Michael, who is 43, was selected to be captain of the UK shooting team and although he did not win a medal, he described the experience as ’fantastic’.

The former Royal Engineer, who uses a wheelchair after suffering nerve damage to his legs, said: ’The whole trip was really positive. They was no bitterness between teams, everything was really friendly, the Americans looked after us fantastically well. There was no them and us. It’s about how you feel when you’re there. Don’t get me wrong, I’d have liked a medal but I felt like I’d won before I got on the plane and I still feel like a winner.

’There are people there with some horrible stories. One man was serving with his wife and she was killed in front of him. I thought how do you deal with that?

’Some horrible things have happened to some of the guys and you see them for those two weeks, and how they come out of themselves, and that’s what it should be about. You’re all helping each other without realising it.

’The amount of positivity, you’re treated like a superstar, kids were asking us to sign our photos in the programme.’

Michael was selected after attending two camps in Bath for the Invictus Games. If you aren’t selected for Invictus you can then be selected for the Warrior Games. He also competed in the wheelchair volleyball.

He continued: ’I was having a bit of a laugh with journalists. I’d be asked what events I was in, so I’d tell them, then add that I was in the long jump or hurdles too. It went out on a news channel in Chicago. If they went on to ask me if I was any good, I’d tell them I was number two hurdler in the UK.

’At the end of the two weeks you’ve made friends with a lot of the other teams, swapping shirts and things like that.

’You’d be surprised the number of people there are with missing arms or legs, it’s not really reported unless people die.’

Overall the UK team won 30 gold medals, 13 silver and six bronze.

The team were also guests at a Chicago Cubs baseball game and attended the Games’ opening ceremony at Soldier Field, home of Chicago’s American football team the Bears.

The Warrior Games were established in 2010 as a way to enhance the recovery and rehabilitation of wounded ex-forces people and expose them to adaptive sports.

Read more about the Warrior Games at www.dodwarriorgames.com