Saturday, September 15, 2012

Bosnia veteran shot by police was finally getting treatment for PTSD

Bosnia veteran shot by police was finally getting treatment for PTSD: family
By: The Canadian Press
14/09/2012

Greg Matters is shown in this undated family handout photo. A Prince George man shot at his home in a confontation with RCMP was a veteran of the Bosnian conflict who was finally getting treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, says his family. Greg Matters was a soldier for 15 years, his sister, Tracey, told reporters.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Prince George Citizen-Brent Braaten

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. - A man fatally shot at his home in a confrontation with RCMP in Prince George, B.C., was a veteran of the Bosnian conflict who was finally getting treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, says his family.

Greg Matters was a soldier for 15 years, his sister, Tracey, told reporters on Thursday.

He left the Canadian Forces in 2009 and after he returned to his home town in northern British Columbia it became clear to those who loved him that Matters was suffering from PTSD, she said.

"There was a delay in him getting treatment," said his sister, who returned to Canada from Australia after learning her brother was dead.

"We actually, as a family, suspected he had post-traumatic stress disorder and we sought treatment independently."

About a year and half ago, he began treatment at the Operational Stress Injury clinic in Vancouver, one of nine across Canada funded by Veterans Affairs.

"He was just back to the good old Greg that I knew 20 years ago," Tracey Matters said in a telephone interview with reporters. "He was an absolute riot. I loved him to bits. "He was a decorated veteran suffering from PTSD but was making amazing success; he was improving dramatically."

But on Monday, an RCMP emergency response team was deployed to a rural property near Prince George, about 750 kilometres north of Vancouver, where a confrontation ensued, and 40-year-old Matters was fatally shot by police.
read more here

Canadian police shooting leaves PTSD veteran dead

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