DEVASTATED
Mel B tribute after Marine hero bodyguard kills himself
MEL B has told of her pain over the suicide of her former Royal Marine bodyguard following a long battle with post-traumatic stress.
The Spice Girl also vented anger at the death of Corporal Ash Nickless, 31, saying more must be done to help armed forces members hit by the harrowing condition.
The dad-of-one, an Afghan War veteran who left the Royal Marines four years ago, was found dead at home wearing his ceremonial blues uniform and medals on November 22 – just days after two medical centres turned him away as he sought help.
Mel said it was “a damning indictment of the lack of help for those suffering from PTSD who are in such desperate need”.
She added: “I talked a lot to Ash about PTSD. I suffer from it as a result of an emotional abusive marriage and he suffered from it as a result of what he went through and what he saw in war zones.”
Ash, who served in 45 Commando, was in the Army for 12 years.
He also worked as a bodyguard for celebs including Ross Kemp and the cast of The Only Way is Essex.
Friends said Ash began to struggle with his mental health after leaving the Marines.
He was wounded in Afghanistan and is understood to have been getting treatment for PTSD for several years.
Ash’s death brings the number of current and former servicemen and women believed to have taken their lives this year to 68. A further 88 are believed to have taken their lives last year.
Mel, 44, said: “I met Ash more than a year ago because he looked after my daughter, Phoenix. He watched out for her like she was his own daughter. She loved him. I remember thinking, ‘This man would actually take a bullet for my child’. Our worlds were so different but we had a connection.
“When I had to do a tour for my book, Brutally Honest, I wanted him by my side because it was tough for me and he absolutely understood trauma on every level. He was with me in the run up to the Spice Girls tour too.” Mel added that Ash became like “part of the family” and it made her cry to think that he had tried to get help only to have doors slammed in his face.
She said: “I guess, like everyone who knew him, I now just think, ‘Why didn’t he call me?’ But I also know he was so very proud and he wanted everyone to believe he could cope. That is devastating to me.”
The singer also said she backs the Sunday People’s Save our Soldiers campaign.
“Ash’s life meant something huge. He served our country. He was fearless. His death has to mean something and if it means we raise awareness for other servicemen, I know it will be a real legacy.”
Ash was found in North Wales by close friend Lucy Hughes. The mum of three, 42, said: “Ash was like a brother to me, so to find him dead was devastating.
“This wasn’t a spur of the moment decision, Ash had been struggling a long while. He didn’t want to carry on. It was as though everything was turning against him.
“He had tried to see his GP but said he was denied an appointment because he had moved out of the catchment area. He was told to arrange an appointment with another centre but told me they too refused to help.
“There were a lot of people trying to help Ash but he was eventually failed by a system that isn’t geared up to helping veterans with mental health issues. Ash’s death could have been prevented if he had better help.
Refused
“How can a mentally ill veteran wounded in Afghanistan be refused help? I don’t think it was the fault of the GPS – it is the system. Ash fell through the cracks but he is just one of many.”
After the Marines, Ash started a fitness training business and worked as a close protection officer or bodyguard and as a security consultant in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Details of his death emerged on social media and a Just Giving page set up to raise £2,000 for funeral costs has topped £17,000.
Former Royal Marine Sergeant Major Jeff Williams, of Veterans United Against Suicide, said Ash’s death was a “preventable tragedy”. He added: “How many veterans and service personnel have to die by their own hand before the MOD accepts there is a problem?”
And General Lord Dannatt, former head of the Army, said veteran suicides are “an epidemic of our time”. He said: “Should the Government have done more? Yes. Should some of the more established charities have done more? Yes.”
Donate to Ash’s family at justgiving.com.