Hundreds of Welsh troops returning from Afghanistan at suicide risk

Until we finally open our eyes to the simple fact combat and PTSD hits humans, we will never learn how ancient and basic it is.

Hundreds of Welsh troops returning from Afghanistan at suicide risk, veteran warns
Wales Online
By Abbie Wightwick
19 Aug 2013

Ex-soldier raises awareness of lack of support facing traumatised Afghanistan veterans, as he embarks on £1m fundraising walk

Hundreds of Welsh soldiers who returned from Afghanistan are struggling to cope – raising fears there could be more deaths like those of Welsh Guardsman Dan Collins who took his own life, a veteran HAS warned.

Former Welsh Guard Dai Graham made the stark warning as he prepares to set off on a £1m fundraising walk to help ex and serving Welsh soldiers deal with the mental and physical aftermath of war.

The Falklands veteran, one of the last men to leave the Sir Galahad when it was blown up, said the Welsh public and politicians don’t always support young soldiers sent to Afghanistan.

This was highlighted, he said, when Lance Sergeant Dan Collins from Tiers Cross near Haverfordwest was found hanged in a West Wales quarry on New Year’s Day last year, after making previous suicide attempts.

The 29-year-old – whose case was featured on a Panorama investigation last month – recorded a heart-rending farewell message to his mother on his phone.

“Dan Collins was told to travel six hours for counselling at a centre in England,” said Mr Graham. “A guy in that situation doesn’t do that, he ends up in a ditch.

“There are hundreds of Dan Collinses out there. I worry that we will lose more.”
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North Wales man tells of post traumatic stress from warzone

North Wales man tells of post traumatic stress from warzone
Sep 21 2009 by Eryl Crump, Daily Post


THE horrors of war are a recurring nightmare for Thomas Rowlands

The 37-year-old from Anglesey saw active service in Northern Ireland and Bosnia during his seven-year spell with the First battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers.

Medically discharged from the Army he says he is suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) and has had no help at all to cope with the condition. But now he is one of the first to receive support he needs from a new Gwynedd-based organisation called Pathways.

He told the Daily Post: “It was Bosnia which ended my Army days. I saw children blown up while I looked on helpless to do anything.

“Youngsters of three and four years old begging me and my mates for food from our ration packs.

“Then we return from the war zone and the Army says there is nothing wrong with me.”

He says since returning to Wales he has had difficulty coping with normal, everyday life.

“I can’t sleep and can’t hold a job down. I’ve had more than 25 jobs in all.
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North Wales man tells of post traumatic stress from warzone