Betrayal of a hero
SHAMEFUL TREATMENT OF BOMB
THE dashing Army officer embodied the bravery of Britain’s Armed Forces on the front line.
Gallant Major Wayne Owers was honoured three times by the Queen, saved countless lives and defused nearly 100 bombs in Afghanistan.
Yet his 27-year decorated career ended with him being dumped – after he asked for help in battling Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The bomb disposal expert confided in military doctors after suffering terrifying nightmares and anxiety attacks from the horrors he witnessed.
But after two years of treatment he was told that he was unfit to serve any more, despite medical experts saying his condition was improving.
Rather than offering him a nonoperational posting, as had happened with troops suffering physical injuries, chiefs ruled his career was over.
He was given a medical discharge and just £6,000 compensation to pick up the threads of his life.
Now the 46-year-old husband and father believes the Military Covenant counts for nothing if troops are diagnosed with PTSD.
He was among nearly 2,000 members of the Forces discharged since 2012 after developing PTSD from serving in war zones.
In an exclusive interview he spoke candidly of his bitterness, saying: “The Army was my life but in my darkest hour when I most needed help I was told, ‘You are no longer fit to serve’.
PROMOTION
“I was mortified. It was a devastating blow. I could have continued serving. The doctors treating me said that I was making progress.”
While in the grip of his illness Major Owers did a second six-month tour in Afghanistan, ran the Defence Terrorist Bomb Disposal Training School and was responsible for over 120 specialists covering a third of England.
He continued: “The reality is that if I had kept my mouth shut I would still be serving. My career was flourishing with promotion a realistic prospect.
“What message does that send out to soldiers who think they might have PTSD? If you ask for help you’ll be thrown out of the Army. The idea that the MoD is serious about treating soldiers with PTSD is nonsense.
“I know soldiers who have said they are better when they’re not because they don’t want to lose their careers.”
Major Owers said that his family were also abandoned, with his headmistress wife Sukie offered no advice on how to help him cope.
He said: “The treatment my wife received was disgusting. There was no support, no help – and that is a clear breach of the Military Covenant.
“I was sent home, given a prescription for very strong antidepressants and almost forgotten. I had been a soldier for 27 years. It was my life and suddenly it was gone.”
Major Owers’ ordeal began in 2015 as he was being treated for a knee injury and began telling the physio about Afghanistan.
He said: “By then I knew I was ill. The nightmares were getting worse. I would have multiple flashbacks from Afghanistan. I would wake up screaming and soaked in sweat.
“The nightmares were a mix of events where I had seen troops under my command severely wounded.
“There were images of soldiers with gaping wounds and amputations, all very raw and frightening. I was getting to be scared of going to sleep.” Major Owers, who joined up in 1990, received the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service after serving in the Iraq War and the Queen’s Gallantry Medal and the MBE for two tours in Afghanistan.
During his time with the Royal Logistic Corps he defused 93 explosive devices, relying on his wits and courage rather than protective gear and specialist equipment.
He escaped serious physical injury but comrades were not so lucky.
An explosion in May 2009 led to one mate losing two legs and an arm. In July Major Owers, then a captain, was standing right next to Corporal Jonny Wallace who stepped on a device and had his leg ripped open.
Recalling it he said: “He was handing me a piece of kit when there was an explosion and I flew backwards but I didn’t even break a fingernail.”
HORROR
In another blast Lance Corporal Davie Timmins lost his right eye and the hearing in his right ear, and swallowed his own tongue.
L/Cpl Timmins, a Queen’s Gallantry Medal recipient, said after the horror: “I was losing a lot of blood but Captain Owers pulled my tongue out and whacked me on the back several times, saying, ‘Don’t die on me’.”
Major Owers described the workload in Afghanistan as “horrendous”, with six hard-pressed disposal teams tackling bombs several times a day.
His good friend Captain Dan Shepherd was killed, followed a few months later by Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid. Another soldier lost both legs.
Major Owers said: “Whether you
survived or not was just luck. The nightmares began soon after I got home. I grew anxious and hypervigilant, began to avoid crowded places and worry about minor things.”
In the years that followed, Major Owers returned to Afghanistan, working in weapons intelligence, gave instruction and commanded a bomb disposal squadron.
He spent a year with a psychiatric nurse using eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing, or EMDR, a technique used in the treatment of severe trauma. In 2016 he was assigned to a clinical psychologist who told him – despite signs of improvement – he was being put on permanent sick leave.
He continued: “This was absolutely against my wishes as I loved my job.
“He also informed me that he was referring me to a medical board for discharge. My world fell apart.
“My work had never suffered and I always conducted my duties impeccably. My CO was shocked. I asked for things to be kept confidential because I felt ashamed.” While on sick leave he was told his bomb disposal pay, equivalent to £11,000 a year on top of his normal wages, was being stopped.
DISCHARGED
He added: “I had to appear in front of a medical board in August 2016 and despite them agreeing that my condition had improved, I was told that I was being discharged.
“I told them I had already served in Afghanistan with PTSD and was getting better, but their minds were made up.” Major Owers also argued that the EMDR had been a waste of time, citing US research indicating it was mainly successful in patients who had suffered a single traumatic event but not multiple ones.
But his pleas were in vain and he was discharged last June – even though he has continued to improve and has since had only a handful of episodes.
He said: “I have since been contacted by five other bomb disposal officers who have been suffering in the same way. “Having seen what has happened to me, all of them are afraid to seek support in case they end up losing their careers.” Major Owers now works for logistics firm DHL, one of the UK’s leading employers of ex-military personnel. He added: “Despite everything I was lucky but hundreds of other soldiers who lost their careers are struggling to survive without any support.” An Army spokesman said: “We are absolutely committed to the mental health and wellbeing of soldiers and work hard to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness, encouraging those who need help to come forward.”
I was sent home with some pills and almost forgotten. I had been a soldier for 27 years, it had been my life but now it was gone. I was left devastated
MAJOR WAYNE OWERS ON BEING GIVEN AN ARMY DISCHARGE DESPITE GETTING BETTER