Jaco Van Gass, 2017

Oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right, by Caroline de Peyrecave (born 1986), painted as part of the WARPaint project, 2017.

This three quarter length portrait is a preliminary study for a life-size double portrait of Martyn Compton and Jaco Van Gass.

Jaco Van Gass served in the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment. He sustained life changing injuries in Afghanistan in 2009 when he was hit by an RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade). This included the loss of his left arm at the elbow, a collapsed lung, shrapnel wounds punctured internal organs, blast wound to the upper thigh, a broken tibia and a fractured knee. Jaco went on to have 11 operations and intense rehabilitation, but he went on to become a first class downhill skier and multiple marathon runner.

After turning his attentions to cycling, Jaco became a member of the GB Para-Cycling team, competing at the World Championships in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In 2014, he won double gold at the Invictus Games in London and in 2016, a Gold and Silver medal at the Invictus Games Orlando. He finished third in the individual pursuit in the 2018 UCI Para-cylcing Track World Championships and at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, he won two gold medals and one bronze medal.

The WARpaint project aimed to raise awareness of the effects of conflict through art and generated funds for military charities. The project supported serving veterans and serving personnel who were living with the devastating and life-changing effects of conflict.