Original subtitles

[plane roaring]

[dog whimpering]

Two weeks before getting blown up I found four in the area

that we were patrolling and the day I did get blown up...

And then I found my fifth by standing on it.

So five in total.

[chuckling]

Still counts, I found them!

[chuckling]

[classical music plays]

[elevator door opens]

[people talking indistinctively]

No, cause we're not meant to be here!

Oh you're embarrassing.

This is worse than going on holiday with your dad,

that's what it's like.

-[Kenny] Thor! -He's fucking following him!

[Stevie] I'm pretending I'm talking to you guys... fuck you.

[Stevie] Hi man, nice to meet you.

You need to calm down, seriously.

Me and you are gonna fall out, we are.

[Kenny laughing]

It's no fucking Make a Wish Foundation, fuck sake.

Awesome.

No! Come on, fuck. Kenny! I'm being serious, man.

No, we're going back a row.

[announcer] Everybody take their seats, please.

[announcer] We'd like to thank you for showing up,

we have people who've come from all over the world,

as you know the Arnold Sports Festival

is the largest sports festival in the world.

[Stevie] Sometimes I just feel that no matter where I am,

I don't fit in.

[electric razor buzzing]

I'm always this weird sort of, tag along cripple

and you just don't want to be that guy sometimes, you know?

[Kenny chuckles]

[Stevie] No matter how you see yourself

everybody will see differently anyway.

And they don't know who you were before,

so they just go off what they see now.

[announcer] Make some noise!

It's Arnold Schwarzenegger, everyone!

[whistle]

[people cheering]

[people cheering]

[Stevie] Apart from being a soldier,

I don't know what I want to do or where I want to be.

I just know I want to do something worthwhile.

[tense music plays]

[news anchor] A former Scottish soldier

who lost his legs in an explosion

while serving in Afghanistan,

is heading to America to compete in a Strongman competition.

Stevie Richardson will fly to Ohio

after only 5 months of training for the gruelling event.

[rock music plays]

[news anchor] It's the first time

the event run by Arnold Schwarzenegger

has been open for people with disabilities.

[female news anchor] Seven years ago

both his legs were amputated above the knee

after he stepped on an improvised explosive device

in Afghanistan.

That hasn't stopped him.

Having competed in the Spartan Race in 2014,

to climbing the French Alps

and racing across America in 8 days.

With the limited time available before his next challenge,

he approached strongman trainer Kenny Simm

and their unknown bond has proved vital.

[Stevie] The best part of working with Kenny,

working with another veteran

is you've got somebody is willing to train you

and push you, that's the hardest thing.

[commentator] Kenny Simm going for his second,

which would take the team to three overall, that's amazing!

[Kenny shouting]

[Stevie grunting]

[Kenny] Come on!

[Kenny] Finish this!

[all laugh]

[Kenny] Come on!

[Luke] Big effort, Stevie, come on!

[Stevie grunting]

[blowing]

[exhales]

[Stevie] I can feel it.

The pressure builds up in that one

and the skin cuts on that one

but there's maybe one more good walk left.

[Kenny] One more, mate!

I've got my chair,

so if I absolutely destroy myself it's alright.

[chuckling]

[Stevie] Have you ever met the Queen?

[Stevie] I did Royal Guard for her up in Balmoral.

Got to dance with her and everything.

[both chuckle]

When I came back from Iraq we did the Royal Guard

because obviously she comes up to Balmoral Castle

every summer,

so everywhere she went we had to go

in all our number ones and all that

and line the route for her and everything

and then at the end when she's getting ready

to go back down South

she throws a big party up at the castle.

[dogs barking]

[dogs panting]

[dog whimpers]

There definitely is pressure to go out there and do well...

But whether that's pressure that people are putting on me

or I'm putting on myself and overthinking things.

What's the worst that can happen?

[chuckles]

I'll go out there and come dead last and make an arse of myself.

[dog panting]

[Stevie chuckling]

-[dog whimpering] -[Stevie] Oh for God's sake.

[dog whimpering]

[Stevie] When I got my first dog, my wee Springer,

I took her for a walk

and it was the first time

I'd went out on a gravelly dirt path

since being injured and...

[gunfire]

I had to more or less force myself

to go on this path and walk.

[gunfire]

And it was the first time that I sort of thought...

that looks a lot like what the ground looks like in Afghan.

[Stevie] Obviously there's never

gonna be an IED lying in the ground

in the middle of East Lothian

but there's a part of your mind starts kicking in a bit...

[gunfire]

And I had to sort of force myself

just to continue on and walk down there.

[planes roaring]

[rustle]

[dog groaning]

[dog groaning]

[dog groaning]

This is a card from all my really close mates.

A lot of them actually came down to see me

while I was in hospital.

It says, 'Hi Richie, hope you're well.

Just wanted to let you know that I do think about you.

I hope that you will recover as soon as possible.

I'm also on physio at the moment.

You do take care, bro and stay blessed. Brothers in arms.'

[Stevie] Going from being a soldier,

enjoying my job, loving my job,

having responsibilities

to literally the last man on the totem pole now, you know,

you are 'disabled' person, you know,

you're not contributing anything anymore,

you're essentially a burden on society now

and that weighs quite a lot on me.

[Stevie] I don't wanna feel

like I'm constantly a burden on other people.

[Stevie pants]

[Kenny] Drive. That's it, you're moving. Let's go.

Drive!

Come on!

[Kenny] That's it.

[Stevie panting]

[Stevie] Fuck off!

[Stevie pants]

-[Kenny] Well done! -[Luke] That was easy!

[soft music plays]

[Hugo screams]

[all laugh]

[explosion]

[Stevie chuckles]

[Stevie chuckles]

[Stevie pants]

[Kenny] Good.

[Stevie pants]

Good.

[Stevie grunts]

[Kenny] Good.

[Kenny] Get under this. Let's get under it! Yes!

[Kenny] Pop it up. That's it.

[Stevie] Nah, fuck this.

[Stevie] No matter what I do

it's always gonna look different,

it's always gonna be weird because you have to adapt

absolutely everything that you do.

[Stevie] If we were to bore holes in it

and be able to move it...

[machine buzzing]

[Stevie laughs]

[all laugh]

[welder sizzling]

[welder sizzling]

[Stevie] This sport in particular,

it doesn't matter who you are,

what limbs you have or haven't got.

You don't feel like you're sort of tagging along.

At the end of the day, strength is strength.

[soft rock music plays]

[Luke] Come on, Stevie!

[Kenny imitating Schwarzenegger]

[radio presenter] It's Tricia Morris here.

So how would you like to spend the weekend

with Arnold Schwarzenegger?

They're expecting 22,000 athletes

to come into the capital city from 80 different countries

to take part in various sport and strength...

[beeping]

[Kenny laughs]

[rock music plays]

[commentator] The amateur Strongman competition

will be taking place on the east-side of the expo centre

at 10 am folks, 10 am.

[Stevie laughs]

[indistinct PA announcement]

[commentator] Abdominals and thighs.

See how small they are.

[crowd cheering]

[commentator] Hey folks, 3-time Arnold Classic Winner Kai Greene

will be signing autographs for the next hour or so

at the meet and greet stand.

Hurry up and get in line, folks!

Fucking dick!

[both chuckle]

[commentator] Course later we do have

our Pro Strongman competition.

[judge] Gentlemen, you ready? Competitors set. Go!

[soft music plays]

[Stevie] It sounds really stupid but...

Somebody was in the house

and they had forgotten something up the stairs

and they just turned around and ran up the stairs

skipping two stairs at a time...

And it was at that moment that I realised,

I'll never be able to do that again.

I'll never be back to what I was.

I guess it comes to my part to welcome you all here.

[both chuckle]

Hey, big guy.

[Stevie] Hiya mate.

[shutter clicks]

[shutter clicks]

[Stevie puffs]

[chuckling]

[applause]

[applause]

Our next inductee...

Bill Kazmaier.

The first time I saw Bill I thought I was seeing a mountain.

One of the world's strongest men in history.

And that's a really unique title to say

'I'm the strongest person

that was ever born on this planet.'

Bill Kazmaier.

[applause]

What an incredible honour and afternoon for me.

Of course, with the big show coming up

this afternoon and evening,

my mind could possibly be somewhere else.

One other hero, before I thank the people in my history

who really have helped me a lot... Stevie.

We're gonna see Stevie compete tomorrow.

I met him in England about a month ago.

Really has overcome adversity.

Stevie, fantastic guy.

With his prosthetics he stands above this tall.

Without them he stands this tall.

One of the toughest guys I ever met

lost both legs in some fighting,

lost many of his fingers...

But the measure of man is how you react on a bad day...

And many of us will fall and look for pity

but a true champion will pop back up and overcome.

So thank you so much for this award.

[applause]

[chuckles]

[electric razor buzzing]

[both laugh]

[both laughing]

[soft music plays]

[welder sizzling]

[electric razor buzzing]

[Stevie exhales]

[Stevie exhales]

[Stevie exhales]

[both chuckling]

[rock music plays]

[radio commentator speaking indistinctly]

[radio commentator] We are gearing up

for the Arnold Sports Festival.

[whistle]

[whistle]

[whistle]

[whistle]

Come on, baby, come on!

[applause]

[man 2 grunts]

[whistle]

[whistle]

-[whistling] -[applause]

-[Magnus] Set! Ready! -[man] Go, Stevie!

[whistle]

-[whistle] -Good.

[whistle]

[applause]

Same again, Stevie, come on.

[Kenny] Power off the shoulder, come on!

[Kenny] Drive up! Up!

[people cheering]

[applause]

[whistle]

[man 3 grunting]

[applause]

[man] Let's go, Stevie!

[Kenny] Put your hand in there, mate.

[Magnus] Ready!

[whistle]

[Bill] Nice pull!

[Bill] Rock 'n' roll, rock 'n' roll, baby!

[Bill] You got this.

[Stevie grunting]

[Stevie exhales]

[Stevie panting]

Gonna do it!

[whistle]

Nice!

[applause]

[whistle]

[whistle]

[people cheering]

[man 3 blows]

[whistle]

[Kenny] Hold it. Good.

[Magnus] Straighten the arms.

Come on! Good grip.

Thanks for that. It was awesome you came.

Cheers, Kaz.

[applause]

[emotional music plays]

[applause]

[whistle]

[Kenny] Let's go, Stevie! Come on!

[Kenny] Let's go! Yes! Up!

[applause]

Yes!

-[people scream] -[applause]

[applause]

[applause]

[applause]

[announcer] Ladies and gentlemen!

The Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic 2017

is now closed!

Yay! Clap your hands! Put them together!

[announcer] It's another great year...

[rustling]

-[Kenny groans] -[Hugo chuckles]

[grunts]

[Hugo grunts]

[grunts]

[exhales]

[sniffs]

[sad music plays]

[Stevie] Feels a bit of a anti-climax coming back.

And where do you go after that?

[beep]

[machine buzzing]

[Stevie] Strongman's great, I enjoy it, I do really enjoy it.

I enjoy the training,

I enjoy the events and everything like that,

but I could never see it

as something I'm going to devote the rest of my life doing.

I still feel that

disability sport

is a bit of a hollow victory in my eyes, I feel.

As bad as that sounds,

which people are going to hate me for saying, I know but...

I just think you could turn around and be like,

yeah you're the strongest disabled person in the world,

but I just feel like,

that word, 'disabled', I just don't like it

and I just feel like

it's not a word that I would use to define myself,

not ever.

I just have a bit of a problem with disability sport.

I don't like being segregated,

I don't like being sort of put into class.

I would rather come last place

in an able bodied contest than first in a disabled,

put it that way.

But that's just my way of viewing it.

After getting injured I've tried so many different things,

sports, jobs, you know,

different paths, different avenues to go down

and I've had some amazing experiences

and done some really cool stuff

and things I wouldn't have been able to do

had I not been injured.

But I still don't know where I'm going.

I still haven't found my thing yet, if that makes sense.

Apart from being a soldier,

I don't know what I want to do or where I want to be,

I just know I want to do something worthwhile

but I don't know what yet.

[religious music plays]

[Stevie blows]

[man blows]

[Kenny blows]

[Stevie laughs]

[all laugh]

[all laugh]

At the end of the day I'm a wounded veteran.

I'm a wounded soldier.

I fucking earned this.

I wasn't born like this,

this wasn't something that happened by mischance,

this is something I fucking earned.

[Stevie] Yeah, a hundred percent.

If I had missed that IED,

if I didn't stand on it and somebody else stood on it

I couldn't fucking live with myself.

The fact I took that hit and somebody else didn't have to,

I'm more than happy with that.

My career's over, regardless.

To be honest,

I went out there knowing full well that I could die

but I didn't really think about the injury side of it.

Life and death is easy because you die.

You don't fucking think about it.

I mean, training with you guys as well, you know,

I'll never be as strong as you guys.

You always feel like you're battling for second place

and you go and do these 'disabled' comps

and all that and I hate that fucking word,

as soon as you put that in there it's like,

what's the fucking point?

[Stevie laughs]

[clang]

[clang]

[Stevie panting]

[clang]

[Hugo chuckles]

[both chuckle]

[Hugo] Get it, daddy!

-[Kenny laughs] -[Hugo crying]

[Hugo crying]

[Hugo] You do it!

[Hugo crying]

[Stevie] Back then when I was in the army

I was very much army driven, I was in for life.

The thought of having family and kids, fuck no.

It was a single man's life, as far as I was concerned.

I suppose as you get older you think about things

and you think about the future and you do realise

you want to have a family, you want to have kids,

you want to teach them and give somebody the chance

to have a better life than what you had

and teach them everything you've learnt along the way.

When I first got injured it was very much the attitude of,

what kid would want to have a crippled dad?

I was just put off by that.

I wouldn't want to be the reason a kid gets bullied

at school or something

or not be able to do things with them and not be a proper dad.

But I've kind of changed my tune on that a bit.

It still lingers, but it's still something in the back of my mind

that if I was to go down that route

and I was to end up having kids

it would probably change my life a lot

and it would probably drive me a lot more actually, to be honest.

[chuckles]

[bagpipe music playing]

[chief] If you have a program and you open it

you can read about this man Stevie Richardson

and his considerable accomplishments.

And we are very proud indeed that he should be here today.

[Stevie] I'd just like to start off by saying a big thank you

to the pipe bands.

It's been many a year since I've had the honour and privilege

to march behind a pipe band,

so thank you for making it happen again.

[commentator] Could I have all your attention, please?

I'd just thought some of you might like to be aware

that within the next ten minutes or so,

Kenny Simm is going to attempt The Ardblair Stones.

So I'm making this announcement

and if anyone wants to see potentially,

and I don't want to put pressure on Kenny,

all nine stones lifted within the next ten minutes,

I would suggest you make your way

over to The Ardblair Stones.

[Hugo imitates plane]

[Stevie blows]

[people cheering]

[applause]

[applause]

[applause]