Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WHY DO SO MANY TROOPS DIE LIKE MY BOY?
Mum’s agony over son’s suicide
A MOTHER whose Army veteran son took his own life is calling for more help for troops with mental illness.
Jarryd Wingfield, 27, a former soldier in the 1st Battalion The Rifles, committed suicide last Sunday.
It was the same day a helpline for troops with mental illness went live.
Jarryd’s mother Sophia Hawkes said: “Why are there so many young men like him taking their lives?”
Mum-of-three Sophia was woken by police at 3am last week and given the news that her eldest son, a champion surf bodyboarder, was dead.
She said: “Despite us offering assurances of love and support he could see no alternative, a black hole of hopelessness.”
Jarryd, of Redruth, Cornwall, left the Army in 2016 after five years’ service and had recently attended the funeral of a friend who had also committed suicide.
Sophia said: “It is obvious from the messages he had been sending that day he was unsettled although no more than before and then it all went quiet.”
Ryan Lewis, a former comrade in The Rifles – motto Swift and Bold – wrote on Facebook: “Complete shock brother
“I’m sure every Rifleman you came into contact with feels the same you were a top bloke budd. I’m sure you had your reasons. I hope you have found peace mate. It’s a true loss of an awesome man. Stand easy now brother
SWIFT AND BOLD.”
At least 325 members of the armed forces have committed suicide in the last 10-years. Sophia, who has two other children, Luke 14 and Josh, 24, added: “Veterans often face problems with reintegration because they move into a completely foreign environment without the strong bonds and special identity that the military forges.
“For some this can be a very anxious, worrying period.
“Servicemen and women could benefit from a better programme of reintegration into civilian life.”
Her call comes on the day the Government commits £3.2million in funding for communitybased care for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. But military charity Combat Stress say they have lost out as some of their NHS funding is taken away and they may have to close centres.
Combat Stress has provided six-week residential care courses for PTSD sufferers, but health chiefs are diverting funding to community-based care.
Chief executive Sue Freeth said: “We are often told we have saved lives through our work.
“We don’t think what we do is appreciated by the health service.”
Dr Jonathan Leach, head of NHS England’s Armed Forces clinical reference group said: “We are investing £3.2m in a national complex treatment service, launching next month, which will treat more patients over a longer period and closer to home as veterans have told us they prefer.”
alan.selby@trinitymirror.com
The new Military Mental Health Helpline is 0800 323 4444.