The Combat Engineer who went on to win 3 Paralympic Golds

Born in New Zealand as a dual-citizen, Curtis moved to Australia straight after finishing school at the age of 18, looking for adventure. He joined the Australian Defence Force in 2006 as a Combat Engineer in Brisbane. He was deployed to Timor-Leste in 2008 on a humanitarian mission for eight months and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2012 in the Second Combat Engineer regiment. He was medically discharged in 2017.

“One of the great things I enjoyed about my service was the camaraderie and the mateship. I had really great friends that helped motivate me to get the job done”.

After his injury, Curtis could no longer continue his deployment. He started to feel isolated without the construct of the military and the camaraderie he was used to. Not only could he not continue his work as a Combat Engineer, he had to rethink many aspects of his everyday life.

“The injury itself impacted me in a number of different ways. Coming to terms with being a disabled person now that requires prosthetics. Getting around I require driving modifications, I use a wheelchair at home, so I need an accessible home. Those are the things people don’t think about but are an everyday situation that you must learn to manage. That can be a very frustrating part of it.”

With the support of the Defence Force, RSL Queensland and his friends and family, Curtis was able to overcome the tragedy by keeping his focus on the positive things he was able to do. That guided him to sports and particularly into kayaking, which became part of his recovery and rehabilitation. Having the opportunity to do active things kept him focused, healthy and happy.

“The services that aided me in my transition was the Mates4Mates organisation. They have been a good part of my rehabilitation. They came and visited me in hospital and told me of the services they provide, such as mental health services, equine therapy and family rehabilitation centres. Having the opportunity to be able to connect with other injured servicemen and women was quite comforting and know that I could go there and have a chat about the issues I was having.”

In 2013, just one year after his injury, Curtis and his father participated in a long 980km adventure kayak from Sydney to Brisbane to raise funds for Mates4Mates and raise awareness of the services they provide. The trip took three weeks and involved other injured veterans.

“RSL Queensland has supported me during my transition by way of an advocate to help me with my DVA (Department of Veteran Affairs) claims and making sure I was not missing out on any entitlements.”

Curtis enjoyed kayaking in high school, after his injury this inspired him to pursue the sport in a professional capacity. The help of his strong support network, his partner Rachel and his family, have pushed him along to achieve his goals to become a kayaking Paralympian.

“Within the military, we get given a task and as a collective, we go out as a section or brick, support each other and complete that task. When I left, I found there was a lot of similarities between military and sport. We’re trying to come together, support the athlete and win the race.”

Curtis won Australia’s first gold medal in para-canoe at the 2016 Rio Games, just 4 years after his injury. He backed this up at the 2020 Tokyo Games and made history by becoming the first para-canoe athlete to win two gold medals at a Paralympics.