Black Hawk helicopter crash survivor Gary Wilson embodies ANZAC spirit

Black Hawk helicopter crash survivor Gary Wilson will share his powerful story at Anzac Service in Concord.

Signalman Gary Wilson now mentors and inspires others. Picture: Tim Hunter.

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When signalman Gary Wilson woke from a coma after being seriously injured in the NATO Black Hawk Helicopter crash in Afghanistan on June 21, 2010, he was just three months shy of his 30th birthday.

“I said to the doctors: ‘I will be back home for my 30th, I will not turn 30 in hospital’.”

The odds were against him after suffering multiple broken bones including a crushed left foot, third degree burns and severe brain injuries that will have lifelong impacts on his speech and movement.

Wilson, 38, has no memory of the crash which killed one US soldier and three Australian commandos — the largest loss of Australian lives in any single incident in almost a decade of the war.

Wilson serving in Afghanistan prior to the Black Hawk crash in 2010.

When he finally woke up in a dark room, he assumed he’d been captured and tried to make a dash for the door but fell and smashed his face on the floor due to his extensive injuries.

“A nurse picked me up and put me back into the bed and I was thinking: ‘How can she be doing that, I’m 85kg?’

“But I’d lost half my body weight, I was down to 50kg and she said: ‘You’ve been in a helicopter crash and you’re home safe’.”

Wilson’s determination to get home to his now wife Renee meant he was dispatched four days before he turned 30.

Wilson will share his story at an ANZAC service in Concord this Thursday.

That mental fortitude helped him get through intense rehabilitation in which he had to learn how to walk and talk again.

“My rehabilitation will always be ongoing,” he said.

“Whatever progress I make, I always say I can do more.”

That can-do at attitude led to him representing Australia at the 2017 Toronto Invictus Games in rowing, shot put and discus, in which he won the bronze medal.

He said the positive impact of sport on his mental and physical health had been “massive”.

Wilson in Afghanistan.

Now he channels his amazing strength of character into being a mentor and personal trainer to other people including veterans.

“The career path I’m trying to go down now is becoming a holistic life coach, including as a personal trainer and providing dietary advice … to help people find their path after their career has ended.

“And also helping others in the workforce to become more passionate about their jobs and to do the best they can.”

Wilson will share his inspiring story in a keynote address at the Anzac Service at the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway at Rhodes Park in Concord West on April 24 at 10.30am, which will be attended by NSW Governor David Hurley.