Veteran on Invictus team says he's out thousands of dollars after being injured on the court

A Canadian Armed Forces veteran who was a poster boy for Canada's 2023 Invictus Games team now says he is thousands of dollars out of pocket after learning he was not covered by medical insurance for injuries he sustained while representing his country.

Scott Snow went to Dusseldorf, Germany to participate in archery, rowing and wheelchair rugby. During his first rugby match, the wheelchair he was using toppled backwards, slamming him onto the court floor and injuring his head, neck and spine.

Nearly a year and two surgeries later, Snow told CBC News he has had to pay thousands of dollars to cover assisted living arrangements and has been forced to abandon some therapy altogether for financial reasons.

If Snow had been one of the serving Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members on the team, those expenses would have been covered by the CAF health care plan.

Veterans on Canada's Invictus team are responsible for arranging and paying for their own insurance — something Snow and other veterans on the team said was never fully explained to them before they went to Germany.

"It's unfathomable that there is a two-tier system ... If the person next to me got shot with a bow and arrow and I got shot with a bow and arrow, for the rest of their life they're covered, any expenses, any modifications. And I have to rely on my credit card," he told CBC News.

Snow was a high-profile team member.

His journey to the games in Dusseldorf was the subject of a promotional video produced to highlight the games. In that video, he discusses his two daughters, the 12 surgeries he has undergone for service-related injuries and his battle with PTSD and depression.

The 43-year-old retired navy diver and special forces operator from Newfoundland and Labrador said he applied to join the 2023 Invictus team so that his daughters, who were too young to see him in uniform before his medical retirement, could watch him represent his country.

"When I received my letter, I cried. It was like my chance for my swan song ... I never thought in 1,000 years I would get a chance to go out the way I wanted to," he said.

"I thought it was going to be life-changing and it was."

In his opening rugby match against the United States in Dusseldorf on Sept. 10, 2023, Snow was in a chair that did not have a restraint strap. He told CBC News that he reached up to catch a ball and fell backwards. Video of the incident shows his head and back slamming into the floor under the weight of his 250-pound frame.

Snow finished the game unaware of the damage the fall had caused. Afterwards, he said, he went to see the team doctor and German medical professionals on site. He said they told him he didn't need an X-ray.

Upon returning to Canada and resuming physiotherapy for his service-related injuries, he said, his therapist urged him to get an X-ray to determine the cause of the loss of sensation and tingling in his hands and feet.