Paul Warren Travels from Brisbane, QLD

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Paul Warren started karate at 10 years old in Toowoomba and put plenty of hard work and dedication into that sport. Within seven years he had won many different titles and featured in the Queensland and Australian teams. He was one of the first people to win a State Junior and Senior title on the same day - winning his age division then going on to beat the men and win that senior division as well. His success culminated in travelling to Denmark in 1996 to compete at a World championship, where he finished fourth.

That same year Paul found kickboxing (Muay Thai) and decided to jump in after just four weeks training. He was “absolutely destroyed” by an older competitor and came out with two black eyes and “well busted up”. However he fell in love with that sport and dedicated the next 10 years to it - travelling the country fighting and winning two Queensland titles and two Australian titles. Countless stitches and bruises along the way, he fractured his shin badly in 2006 so decided the Army would be his next challenge.

Paul was deployed to Afghanistan in June 2009. On the 18th July in the Balluchi Valley an IED detonated underneath his troop. Paul was conscious through the whole thing and was crawling around trying to find his mate Pte Ben Ranaudo. Ben had been killed instantly and when Paul looked down he discovered his leg was “clean gone”.

He was flown back to Tarin Kowt for surgery then on to Germany before coming home to Australia. Seventeen surgeries followed that year from his leg to various shrapnel wounds and the inside of his right ear. Paul miraculously was up walking just 10 weeks after the blast!

When he got back to Townsville he found himself going through severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression, not over himself or his physical injury but the constant reminder that his mate, Ben, had been killed. At his lowest Paul thought about taking his own life.

He began getting back into the gym and training some mates that were soldiers (some whom had PTSD as well). It seemed really effective for both Paul and the other men. His fighting career really helped in his recovery when he was injured in Afghanistan as he was used to picking himself up both mentally and physically when things didn’t go his way.

Paul is now using this experience to help other returning soldiers with PTSD by getting them into gyms to encourage a healthy active lifestyle. His life has since turned around and he is now married with two wonderful children. Paul is now working towards getting fight training programs running in Townsville with injured soldiers and guys with PTSD.