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Neil's Veteran Story
By Walking With The Wounded on
Every penny you raise for Walking Home For Christmas will support people like Neil...
Deployed to Bosnia, Macedonia, Iraq, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan in a 23-year career before medical discharge.
Neil, a WO2 in the Army Air Corps, suffered a training accident in Kenya where he was trapped underwater beneath an upturned raft, nearly drowned, suffered spinal injuries and as a result struggled with PTSD, including an extreme phobia of water. This impacted his family life, his marriage suffered and eventually lead to divorce, “it felt like I had lost it all, my wife and two wonderful children. It was too much to deal with.”
Post discharge he was referred to WWTW’s mental health programme, is now able to cope with his PTSD and has overcome his phobia of water.
“I didn’t know where I stood when I left the Army. I was withdrawn and suffering mentally. If it wasn’t for WWTW and their Head Start programme I don’t know what I would have done.”
“Anything water related would trigger my PTSD. I couldn’t bath or shower for over 6 months and I had to remove the bathroom door so I didn’t feel enclosed. I couldn’t even boil a kettle or tolerate rain. The sound or sight of water would bring me out in sweats and uncontrollable shaking.”
“I have ups and downs but I now know how to handle situations without exploding. I can manage my low moods and that is all thanks to WWTW.”
Neil has recently sent his therapist a photograph - he’s on a jet ski with his daughter, happy and enjoying life and having good times with his children. He said, “I have been given the chance to start a new chapter in my life and I have.”
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