Rehabilitation centred on sport and exercise has been Dane Greenstreet's focus since medically discharging from the Australian Army eight years ago.
Now that he's in a more positive headspace, he believes the time is right to close the door on his Defence background once and for all.
And what better way to say goodbye than to go out with a bang by representing your country at Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025?
"I'm doing this for myself as a sign-off from Defence," said Dane, who lives in Bunbury, Western Australia, with his wife, Angela, and children, Taj (12) and Hamish (10).
"My medical discharge after 16 years' service was not a pleasant experience, so I want to walk away now on my terms with my head held high.
"I guess you could say I've been preparing for this from the moment I left. If I look back 10 years ago, I was an absolute puddle on the floor. I had no confidence, no belief in myself or anything.
"I've spent time building myself up to the point where I'm competing in a global event. I've come full circle."
As a sports nut who grew up playing cricket, swimming, rugby league and rugby union in Dorrigo, it makes sense Dane turned to sport and exercise as part of his rehabilitation journey of living with post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, anxiety, and lower back and limb injuries.
Since discharging, he is once again playing cricket for a local club, has participated in two Big Battlefield Bike Rides, and recently completed the Busselton Jetty open ocean swim.
"I've already kicked some goals without even leaving Australia," Dane said.
"The truth is, the activities I've been doing kickstarted me into thinking I can achieve goals like the Invictus Games.
"Now I'm using the games to motivate my workouts and prioritise my fitness."
'I've spent time building myself up to the point where I'm competing in a global event. I've come full circle.'
Following his selection at the Invictus snowboarding camp in Colorado last year, Dane (42) is looking forward to hitting the slopes again as part of Team Australia's snowboarding contingent, using his old surfing skills to keep him upright.
He's also preparing for the swimming events and is particularly keen to get in the thick of the wheelchair rugby action, despite limited exposure to this fast and bruising sport.
"The first time I sat in a wheelchair was at the initial training camp. I had a go at wheelchair rugby and thought it was absolutely amazing. You know, you can just bash into people from the other side of the court, and no one cares," Dane said.
"But the appeal is more than that. It's the fact that I'm back in a team environment - learning together, developing as a team, supporting and encouraging each other.
"When you're in a team sport, you can rev each other up.
"It's a totally different dynamic with individual sports. That involves a mental battle and you have to build up the resilience to push yourself to go harder and faster. I'm a naturally competitive person so that does come a bit easier to me."
So what does Dane hope to achieve from the games?
"Getting to Canada will be a major achievement and it will be great to perform well," he said.
"But you know, as long as I do my best, knowing that I've done everything I possibly can to get there with Ange and the boys watching me from the crowd, that's all that matters to me."
The international adaptive multi-sport competition for former and current serving military personnel who have been wounded, injured or become ill during their military service will be held in Canada from February 8 to 16.
