HELP PTSD FIGHT, HARRY Ex-soldier’s plea after 6 comr ades kill themselves
EX- SOLDIER Shane Sweeney has written a heart-wrenching letter to Prince Harry urging him to help veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.
In the moving letter, Shane, 41, tells Harry of the effect the illness has had on him and comrades, including at least six who killed themselves.
The former corporal, who revealed his old regiment’s PTSD toll in last week’s Sunday People, wrote: “It is a terrible condition which is blighting the lives of veterans across the country.
“Six of my colleagues from the Royal Welsh Regiment have killed themselves in recent years after suffering from this silent killer.
“They were broken by it. I could have been the seventh.”
Shane wrote after Harry, 32, an ex-Army officer, revealed he came close to a breakdown after bottling up grief about his mother Diana’s death for 20 years.
The prince and his brother William, 34, and wife Kate, 35, are fronting t he Heads Together campaign to end the stigma of mental illness.
But Shane believes that Harry, who battled the Taliban during two tours of Afghanistan and rose to the rank of captain, is best-placed to fight for forces’ veterans who have fallen apart. Shane was in the Iraq war with the Royal Regiment of Wales which later became the Royal Welsh and whose former Colonel-in-Chief was Harry’s dad Prince Charles.
Horrors
Shane said: “It would be amazing if Harry would lead a campaign to help sufferers.
“I’ve written to him as I think it’s important for him to know just how big a problem this is.
“He knows all about the horrors of war and already does a lot for servicemen and women who have been physically injured.
“He has the love and respect of people across Britain. It would make such a difference.”
Shane, who spoke out last week for the Sunday People’s Save Our Soldiers campaign, added: “The response was incredible.”
Shane left the Army in 2007 and was diagnosed with PTSD three years later.
He is now living in temporary council property with his wife Heather and their three kids Ryan, 18, Dani, 15, and Tyler, four, in Northern Ireland.
Last night Tory MP and former Army officer Johnny Mercer provoked anger after suggesting too many military veterans are being misdiagnosed with PTSD.
He said: “There is a one per cent increase in your likelihood of getting PTSD if you are in combat. If you’re not in a combat arm, it’s the same as society outside of the military. MY name is Shane Sweeney. I am proud to say I was a corporal in the British Army as part of your father’s former regiment the Royal Welsh.
I joined up aged 17 and a half before going on to serve our country in Iraq, twice, Northern Ireland, twice, as well as other tours of Bosnia, Kosovo and Germany.
I also had the honour of guarding your family, including your mother and father, your grandmother and your great grandmother at our royal palaces.
But after 15 years’ service I was forced to leave the Army as I realised I could no longer carry on.
The nightmares, the pain and the mental torture I was suffering just got too much.
I know now I was suffering from post traumatic stress – a terrible condition which is blighting the lives of veterans.
Six of my colleagues from the Royal Welsh Regiment have killed themselves in recent years after suffering from this silent killer. They were broken by it.
I could have been the seventh and indeed have been close to killing myself five times. Without the love of my wife and our three children, I would no longer be here.
We are now essentially homeless in temporary accommodation.
Life remains a constant struggle and the smallest thing can trigger a terrible flashback.
If I hear my son scream – which happens regularly due to his autism and ADHD condition – my mind instantly takes me back to the moment a suicide bomber blew himself up near a school bus in Iraq.
If I see someone acting suspiciously in the street, it makes me worry I’m about to come under attack.
Just the sound of a firework transports me back to Camp Basra, fearing for my life as enemy mortars bombard us day and night.
I know you too have witnessed the horror of war and are a respected veteran.
That is why I am writing to you to ask if you would consider fronting a major campaign to help veterans suffering from PTSD.
The help we desperately need is not there and things urgently need to change.