Kionte Joined the United States Marine Corps to meet a call for adventure and to go beyond his home town of Compton California. On completing infantry training Kionte saw service in Iraq and later in Afghanistan, where he was struck by an IED blast resulting in the loss of his leg, traumatic brain injury and PTSD. Soon after his repatriation to the US Kionte turned to the track, trying his hand at adaptive sports. He was quickly identified for his talent and potential and within 2 years was competing nationally. Between track training and marathon running, Kionte took to mountain climbing, summiting peaks in Antarctica and Africa to challenge himself further. It was while facing defeat when attempting to climb Mt Vinson in Antarctica that Kionte realised his full potential to overcome any challenge

Kionte's drive to overcome has been channelled into his career and academic studies, and finding ways to go beyond his previous brain injury, he is well on his way to completing two degrees building his dream of becoming a physical therapist. In this episode we also touch on the central role of Kionte's service dog Koja in aiding with his PSTD recovery over the decade following his injury.

Kionte is a member of the 2023 Invictus USA team having first competed in The Hague in 2022.

This Invictus Games 2023 series charts the journey of current and former Invictus Games athletes from a range of countries covering their military careers, their deployment histories and the injuries they sustained. We talk about their experience of life changing injury, and their remarkable physical and emotional recover through training and competing in adaptive sports and through the Invictus Games.

https://invictusteamus.com

https://www.invictusgamesfoundation.org

Invictus Games Dusseldorf https://invictusgames23.de

https://www.instagram.com/kiontestorey/