Kerrie Tessier didn’t know what she was going to do with the rest of her life.

After suffering a serious shoulder injury, Kerrie knew that she would never be able to work as a physiotherapist again and was medically discharged from the army.

“In 30 minutes ADF physios can make someone understand what their injury is and set them on the road to recovery,” says Kerrie. “I loved it. It was all I wanted to do.”

Doctor, Doctor!

At a loose end, Kerrie thought about having a crack at becoming a doctor and reckons she fluked passing the gruelling eight hour entry exam to get into medical school. She’s now in her eighth and final year of university and is understandably “pretty ready to finish studying.”

But before she dons the white coat, there’s the small matter of representing Australia at the Warrior Games in Florida.

Kerrie, The Warrior

With the support of the veteran community and The Road Home in her new hometown of Adelaide, Kerrie was able to access the Adaptive Sports Program and get involved in a range of sports that didn’t leave her sore all the time.

She joined a supportive community and immediately took to cycling. With the support of what was then known as Veteran Sport Australia (now Invictus Australia) she made it to Florida with a team of veterans competing at the Warrior Games across five sports.

Kerrie used a three wheel recumbent bike for cycling because she can’t put a lot of load through her shoulder and competes in indoor rowing one handed.

“I’ve always been very active and into sports. Being looked out for by The Road Home and able to use their bikes to train has been fantastic.”

“I’m really looking forward to getting to Florida. I love sport because it proves that I can do things that I initially thought I couldn’t. You just don’t know what you’re capable of.”