VANCOUVER, B.C. - Paul Franklin can still vividly remember lying on the ground after a suicide bomber destroyed the armoured jeep he was driving in Afghanistan four years ago.
Parts of the army medic's body were on fire, and he could see the bottom half of his left leg sitting a few feet away.
"I could feel it, but of course it wasn't attached," Franklin, now 42 and retired from the military, recalled Friday as he readied himself to carry the torch in the Paralympic relay in Vancouver.
"I knew I was screwed - that was the thought that went through my head."
The 2006 blast near Kandahar killed Canadian diplomat Glyn Berry, and sent three forces members including Franklin back to Canada as some of the first soldiers wounded in Afghanistan.
Franklin survived, thanks to the quick actions of one of his fellow soldiers and 26 surgeries that eventually saw his right leg amputated as well.
For Franklin, the tragedy did more than take both of his legs: it started him on a mission to encourage the military to do more for injured soldiers and to help the wounded find rehabilitation through sport.
He initially returned to the military and helped injured soldiers at Canadian Forces Edmonton. He retired last year, turning his attention to the Franklin Fund, which raises money and awareness for amputees in northern Alberta.
Franklin's efforts and a Canadian Forces program called Soldier On were highlighted Friday, the final day of the Paralympic torch relay, when several veterans carried the flame.
It was a fitting return to the roots of the Paralympics.
The Games evolved from an event in Stoke Mandeville, England, in 1948, when a doctor working for the British government organized a sporting event for Second World War veterans with spinal cord injuries.
The first Olympic-style competition for athletes with disabilities was staged in 1960, in Rome.
Xavier Gonzalez, the chief executive officer for the International Paralympic Committee, said the Games are about peace, but there is still war.
"In the world, there is war and through that, there are people that get disabilities. We provide the opportunity (for them) to become athletes in their own right. That is a practice that helps rehabilitation."
Franklin said the lives of injured soldiers are improving, both for those who continue to serve and those who retire, and he suspects part of that will see Canadian soldiers on future Paralympic teams.
There aren't any soldiers on Canada's team this year, unlike other countries such as the United States, which has five veterans competing.
The 2008 Canadian Paralympic team in Beijing included one former soldier, rower Steven Daniel, who was paralyzed during a parachute training accident in Ontario in 2005.
Franklin said Canada lags behind for two reasons: before Afghanistan, there were far fewer injured Canadian soldiers, and because of that reality there were fewer resources available to them.
"The next Winter Paralympics, you're going to start to see the development of the soldiers getting into these sports and in the Summer Games, the same thing," said Franklin, who lives in Edmonton.
"It says that we're on the right track, but it says we have some things to work on."
Franklin talks about his injury with optimism that belies the devastating explosion in Afghanistan. With a gentle smile on his face, he says he looks back on what happened "in a positive way."
"That was part of my life, that guy died, that was the end of it, and now I've moved on and I'm doing some interesting stuff," said Franklin.
"I knew that I'd never be able to walk again, so I made it a challenge for me to walk that little bit (with prosthetic legs) and to challenge the system in a lot of ways."
One of those ways is through his involvement in Soldier On, a Canadian Forces program that helps injured athletes through physical activity and sport.
Soldier On was started in 2006 by a Warrant Officer Andrew McLean and Greg Lagace, who work with the Canadian Paralympic Committee. Both were part of the torch relay Friday afternoon, when the military factored large in the last portion of the route.
The flame was carried aboard a Sea King helicopter to the naval frigate HMCS Vancouver, which then transferred it to a smaller patrol vessel.
Finally, McLean carried the torch onto a small inflatable boat, which he rode to shore as the final torchbearer of the afternoon.
He said the Paralympics are a powerful dream for injured veterans, though most just concentrate on navigating through daily life as they recover.
"Not everybody wants to achieve Paralympic status, some just want to be able to walk with their families, go to the beach, that kind of stuff," said McLean.
"When you become seriously injured or ill and go through a trauma, fitness is more important for your quality of life post-trauma or post-illness."
-With files from Stephanie Levitz