Sports helped heal Maj. Jessica Guerin — now she's headed to the Invictus Games

It was 4 a.m., and Maj. Jessica Guerin was on a mountain in the Scottish Highlands crying.

Twenty-two hours into the 24-hour race at Cateran Yomp, Guerin suddenly found herself at a breaking point.

"The sun's sort of coming up and I just start crying, like, uncontrollably bawling, like I was a little girl again," she said.

Guerin had been dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), dating back to her 2008 military tour as a medic in Afghanistan. Coming into 2023, she was in a "dark place," and knew she needed to make a change in her life.

Six months later she was alone on a mountain in Scotland, crying about "things that I had held on for so long."

Guerin pulled out her phone and put on her "angry music" playlist, listening to the same five songs on repeat. She had a Tylenol, an energy pack and some tea from a hydration station and soon she found herself running.

At the finish line was a fellow Canadian and retired army veteran waiting to congratulate her on completing the 90-kilometre race.

"That experience kind of opened up my world to putting myself out there, to [the] Invictus [Games]," she said.

Guerin will be of 56 athletes from Canada and 500 athletes from 20 countries across the world competing in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C., for the seventh Invictus Games kicking off Saturday.

Vancouver-Whistler will be the second time Canada has hosted the Invictus Games since Toronto in 2017. This year will also be the first time winter sports are featured.

Created by British veteran Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, the Invictus Games were first held in 2014 in London to encourage recovery and rehabilitation to wounded, injured and sick service men and women across the world through the power of sport.

"The Invictus