Andrew's Story
“I joined the Army aged 15 in 1962. At age 20 I was in Aden, fighting in the Yemen. During my time there, I was the driver of a patrol vehicle and we were ambushed. The vehicle was blown up and my body was filled with shrapnel. I was in hospital for a few weeks recovering but then back on duty.
“After Aden, I did constant tours of Northern Ireland – five in total. During these tours I was ambushed again several times and also shot at but we were just told to carry on, there was no counselling back in the day.
“In total I served for 24 years and I then went to work for the Sultan of Oman, teaching military skills to the Royal Guard. I really enjoyed this job but after 12 years I decided it was time to move back to the UK.
“I got married and found a job – life was good. After relocating to Edinburgh I found a new job at the University as part of the security team. But after experiencing an electric shock whilst doing my job, my whole world changed – it opened a can of worms for me. I found myself going back into the theatres of war, going through the awful events all over again. Flashbacks and nightmares – these had never happened before but suddenly I was experiencing them.
“It was one of my colleagues who, after I told him about my symptoms, suggested I contact Combat Stress. I remember him saying ‘if they can’t help you, no one can’.
“I can truly say Combat Stress is a wonderful organisation. Thanks to Kerry, one of the senior nurses at the charity, I was brought back from a very dark place to a place of hope. Kerry has helped me enormously – with her help and by using the charity’s specialist sensory modulation technique, I now have a ‘box of tricks’ I can turn to when I need to. The items in the box have been carefully chosen to bring me down / back to reality after a flashback or nightmare.
“I’ve also found the peer support service invaluable – it’s been so helpful to spend time with other veterans who have experienced similar mental health issues to me.”
January 2022
Andrew in Aden (Duty Policeman) 1966 
Andrew in Germany 1985 
Andrew in Northern Ireland 1983
