MEPs do not see the timing of the Special Forces program as problematic.
On Monday, Henna Virkkunen participated as an invited guest in the Kultaranta discussions at the summer residence of the President of the Republic. Matti Matikainen
MEP Henna Virkkunen (Coalition Party) is one of the competitors in the Special Forces series that spoke this summer.
In a program called the toughest competition in Finnish television history, people familiar with the public participate in a camp that adapts to the special training of the army, where the condition and square of the competitors are tested.
For Virkkus, the experience turned out to be more violent than he initially realized.
– On the second day, I was seriously injured in a helicopter crash. The spine broke, Virkkunen says.
The task, in which competitors have to drop from a helicopter eight meters high head first into the cold water, is seen in the second episode of the series. The politician also says that he is most afraid of water-related tasks in the program.
However, Virkkunen’s injury is not clear from the episode, but he continues to compete as usual.
– In the next episodes, I go with my back broken. It was pretty tough, the politician says.
According to the Health Library, a vertebral fracture causes severe pain and may require surgical treatment. Depending on the fractured vertebrae, a fracture can result in paralysis or even death at worst.
On TV during the war
The Special Forces program on Ruutu + was filmed last August. Coincidentally, the theme was very topical at the time, as Kabul collapsed at the same time and real special forces were also sent from Finland to Afghanistan.
A few months later, the world changed even more profoundly when Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February.
Virkkunen does not find it problematic that the program is shown on television at the same time as the war in Europe.
– You don’t practice warfare in it. It tests people’s skills and who might be suitable for special forces training, the MEP explains.
Although the experience was wild, Virkkunen says he was able to do things in the filming that he had never tried before.
– I just turned 50 years ago, and this is a good age to try my limits and go a little uncomfortable.