Invictus Games: Gold medal winner Lisa Johnston's royal hugs

A woman who won a gold medal at the Invictus Games said she wanted to prove to her children "you can achieve what you want to achieve".

Lisa Johnston, 39, who served as a medic in the Royal Army Medical Corps, had her leg amputated in 2016.

She was pictured receiving a hug from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex after receiving her medal for the shot put.

The games, founded by Prince Harry, are being held at The Hague, in the Netherlands, until Friday.

Ms Johnston, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, said she had been diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) after serving in the army for 17 years.

"Imagine having your leg a million paper cuts, alcohol gel poured on, rubbed down with sandpaper, whilst in a fire, and that doesn't even cover the tip of how painful my CRPS was," she said.

The mother-of-three said treatment had not helped and eventually had to have her leg amputated.

Ms Johnston said she had "loved" her job and had been devastated by her illness and its impact on her family life.

"A mum's job is to look after kids, nurture kids and teach the kids.

"When you've got an injury, or again, a medical condition, and that's taken away from you, what do you do?

"You're nothing, you're useless, you're not needed."

Ms Johnston said she had felt like a "spectator, rather than a parent" and had been left feeling guilty.

"Going back to the reasoning behind doing the Invictus Games was to show my children that no matter what happens in life you pick yourself up, you can achieve what you want to achieve."

Ms Johnston said after her amputation she became a "hermit".

"And it wasn't until I was at home and the boys were saying 'Mum come and play with me, can we play catch? Can we play in the garden?'

"And I was like 'No I can't, I can't' and I felt awful. I felt guilty that they were missing out because of me not being able to do it," she said.

She opted to join a gym and started with an aerobics class for older people, which she said helped get her active again.

At the time she received an email about the Invictus Games and put her name forward and was selected for the UK team.

"Being in the Invictus Games with so many similar people in similar situations, like-minded thinking - it's been amazing," she said.

"It's so inspirational, speaking to everybody around here and everybody supports each other," she said.

After she received her medal, she said Prince Harry and the duchess were leaving - "He went to shake my hand again and I was like 'Come on Harry I'm a hugger'"

"And he gave me a hug, and Meghan gave me a hug."

Ms Johnston said Harry is "such a sound guy", adding that he is "one of the lads".

"He's got that kind of banter with everybody, but it's a side you don't generally see because obviously he's a royal."

The Invictus Games aim to help in the rehabilitation of injured or ill service personnel and veterans through the challenge of competing in sporting events.

The first event took place in London in 2014, with subsequent competitions being held in the USA, Canada and Australia.

The games at The Hague were due to take place in 2020, but were postponed due to the pandemic.

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