Apiata leads comrades to inaugural Invictus Games

Willie Apiata is the New Zealand team's patron.

Victoria Cross-holder heads to London as part of 12-strong contingent of New Zealand military paralympians.

First he was decorated for valour after carrying a critically wounded comrade to safety through enemy fire in Afghanistan.

Now, Victoria Cross-holder and former corporal Willie Apiata is leading a team of disabled or ill warriors - including three others wounded in Afghanistan - to an inaugural military paralympics event known as the Invictus Games in London this week.

As patron of a 12-strong team representing the New Zealand Defence Force which left for Britain on Saturday, Mr Apiata will be in good company.

Prince Harry is championing the event after he was inspired by the Warrior Games in the US last year.

From Wednesday, more than 400 service men and women from 13 countries will compete in nine sports such as wheelchair rugby and basketball over five days.

A promotional video features stars such as Daniel Craig, Joss Stone, Stephen Fry and Bear Grylls reciting Invictus by the Victorian English poet William Ernest Henley.

That poem has inspired generations of leaders from Nelson Mandela and Burmese independence fighter Aung San to United States President Barack Obama, although it was also hijacked by Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

The word invictus is Latin for unconquered and event organisers say it embodies the fighting spirit of wounded, injured and sick service personnel in "finding the courage and strength to rise again".

Prince Harry, a British Army captain and helicopter pilot, has also recruited the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to lend financial and logistical support to the cause.

The organisers vow to "use the power of sport to inspire recovery, support rehabilitation and generate a wider understanding and respect for those who serve their country".

Among those competing for New Zealand will be Private Dion Taka, Corporal Peter Mason-Smith and Sergeant David (Johnny) Duncan, who were wounded in Afghanistan, and Corporal Jason Sturley, whose leg was amputated at the knee after becoming infected in the Solomon Islands.

Mr Apiata's presence in London means he will miss the APN-sponsored Pride of New Zealand awards to be presented on Wednesday to winners selected by a judging panel on which he was joined by several other high-profile New Zealanders. He has sent his apologies.