AS TRAUMATISED Army left us to face PTSD alone But love sur vived horror
SOLDIER James Price’s marriage was torn apart by the horrors he witnessed while serving in Afghanistan.
He is one of thousands of former servicemen scarred by their battlefield experiences and stricken by post-traumatic stress disorder.
It drove James and his ex- wife Anneka to divorce. But their love could not be beaten and they are tying the knot for a second time.
Even so, they suffered an agonising two-year wait for counselling to help James overcome terrifying flashbacks in which he relived the sounds of gunfire, the shouts and screams.
The couple agreed to tell their story after the Sunday People launched its Save Our Soldiers Campaign, calling on the Government to do more for traumatised troops.
Posted
Action is urgently needed because a serviceman or woman or veteran commits suicide almost every two weeks, according to official figures.
Nearly 400 took their lives between 1995 and 2014.
Anneka and James met in 2006 in their hometown Coventry while he was on leave after serving in Iraq with the Grenadier Guards.
In March 2009 they had a son, Owen. He was christened on their wedding day that August.
Anneka remembers their marriage at the Guards Chapel in London as the happiest day of her life.
There was one cloud on their horizon – James had learned his unit was being posted to war- torn Afghanistan the following month.
While he was away, Anneka wrote every day, enclosing pictures of their toddler Owen. Brief and cheery replies from combat medic James made no mention of the horrors he was seeing. Nor did he mention that he was racked with survivor guilt at still being alive after five members of his regiment were killed.
James recalled: “I missed so much in those months – Owen’s first words, him starting to crawl and hi s first birthday. Thoughts of my family kept me going.
“When I was out there I just did what I was trained to do, I didn’t think too much. But now when I look back, the tour was really gruelling and was affecting me emotionally and physically. We came under heavy fire lots of times. Five of my regiment were killed in seven months.
“We became like brothers, working closely together. When we lost anyone it was a kick in the teeth.
“One night three men were killed, including a close friend, when the Taliban attacked.”
James himself narrowly avoided a bullet in the head.
He said: “I would sit and cry and every day I was fearful that I might die next and never see my family again. I was constantly on edge and found it difficult to sleep. “The devastation caused to Afghan civilians by Taliban attacks was also harrowing. Children would run s creaming f r om gunfire. As a medic I had to attend to
some horrific injuries. It was heartbreaking.” When James came home for Christmas Anneka noticed he was withdrawn and unhappy. She said: “Something wasn’t right. If I asked, he wouldn’t talk about it.”
James left the Army in March 2010 and Anneka realised he was no longer the man she married.
She remembered: “He became moody and locked himself away. We were constantly arguing.
“He was once a loving dad but now he showed no interest in his son. He would snap at me and soon the intimacy between us disappeared.
“At night he would toss and turn and scream and I would get hit by his thrashing arms and legs.
“Our rows were upsetting. Owen and I couldn’t take any more. I thought James might be depressed and asked him to get help but he’d just say there was nothing wrong.
“Finally I asked him to leave. I