Erskine supporter and Invictus Games gold medal winner is recognised for his fundraising and sporting exploits

David Jarvis, a Veteran of the Royal Signals, who last year won gold at the Invictus Games, has been recognised with numerous awards for his sporting efforts and fundraising for Erskine.

David, who served in the military as a staff sergeant for 21 years, was crowned Inverurie Sports Person and Male Athlete of the Year at the Aberdeenshire Club Sport Awards, the largest of the 42 sports councils and club sport networks in Scotland.

He was also recently named runner-up for ‘Inspiration of the Year’ at the Scottish Ex-Forces in Business Awards, having been nominated by his current employer, FDM Group.

David was born in Nuneaton before moving to Stuart Field, Aberdeenshire and attending Mintlaw Academy. Upon leaving school, he joined the Territorial Army prior to joining the Forces full-time. The 40-year-old was deployed several times throughout his career including three tours of Afghanistan, as well as Pakistan and Bahrain.

David started cycling in 2015, initially as a means to get to work after being downgraded due to knee issues. However, he soon became passionate about the sport and eventually won his first race in 2017.

In 2018 David had serious accident during one of the events where he was knocked off his bicycle, David sustained trauma to his ribs, shoulders, back and the right side of his body.

His charity challenges started in 2020 these included riding 100km per day for the whole of June for the Royal Signals Charity.

He applied for the 2023 Invictus Games in Dusseldorf, however, his training came to a halt following a diagnosis for Type 1 Diabetes which left him seriously ill. His health deteriorated so much that doctors advised him to quit the team.

However, he was determined to make it work, and his perseverance was rewarded as he was able to beat personal bests in all of his events and won a gold medal in the cycling time trial event. This made him the fastest cyclist across all categories.

David has previously carried out a number of fundraising events for Erskine, including the Etape Loch Ness which is a cycle event around Loch Ness offering the chance to cycle 66 miles on a 360° closed-road route around the loch, offering 900m of ascent.

Of his recent success and challenges he has faced David said:

“Since being told I’d be medically discharged in August 2021, life has been a constant rollercoaster of changes. From having to suddenly decide on a new career path, completing various resettlement training at the PRU next to the Erskine house in Edinburgh, attending interviews, our 2nd child arriving, leaving the Army in January 2022 and starting the new job, moving home and then trying to settle in a new community; lots of significant changes.  I originally applied to the invictus games with the aim of getting my head back in the right place; life had taken its toll.

Unfortunately, life wasn’t quite finished with me yet and decided to throw in another challenge, Type 1 diabetes.  In short, I just broke the challenge down into bite sized pieces and started nibbling away.  before I knew it, I’d eaten a sizeable chunk and had a gold medal to show for it.  Since then I’ve been given several opportunities to talk at various schools and events which has shown me that I have a story to tell and people actually want to hear it.  So this experience, whilst incredibly humbling, has opened up a possible new career opportunity I'd never thought possible before, in both key note and motivational speaking.  I’m looking forward to seeing what the future holds”.

Erskine wishes David all the very best in future ventures.