Save Our Soldiers

Mark “Billy” Billingham, a star of SAS Who Dares Wins, spoke out following the death of special forces medic Staff Sgt Jamie Ferguson, 36, who shot himself on an Army base last month.

The Sunday People revealed he made a video saying: “I asked for help but no one was listening. They didn’t understand.”

Disgraceful

His widow Sammi, 50, who had a son with Jamie, and two daughters from another marriage, wants the Government to admit there is a problem with suicide in veterans’ and hold a full and open investigation into her husband’s death.

Billy, 53, said: “It’s an absolute tragedy. You are not going to prevent all deaths but surely the MOD and the Army can do far more. It’s clear the MOD doesn’t care – once you’re out of the door it’s clear you are not its problem and that’s wrong.

“The MOD doesn’t know how many veterans are killing themselves and that’s disgraceful – that disgusts me.” Staff Sgt Ferguson, originally from Leicestershire, joined up at 16 and was in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Among the hundreds of lives he saved with the SAS in Iraq and Afghanistan were victims of a 2009 checkpoint ambush by a rogue Afghan cop in Helmand.

He was treated for post-traumatic stress last year after failing to save a soldier trampled by an elephant in an anti-poaching operation in Malawi. MPS last week told the Sunday People his suicide, at Leuchars Military Base, Fife, should be a “catalyst for change” for the way that the MOD treats soldiers with mental health problems.

Billy, who spent 27 years with the Paras and the SAS, said: “With over 200 veteran suicides since 2017 that’s a difficult number to get your head around.

“Why are they not getting help with PTSD or other mental health problems?”

Billy, who has guarded A-list stars such as Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, has been decorated for bravery and had people die in his arms.

He said he thought people with PTSD were weak until an SAS friend developed it.

“I realised he had PTSD and it was something very real and very dangerous,” he recalled.

Billy praised the Sunday People’s Save Our Soldiers campaign,which calls for an overhaul of how the MOD tackles PTSD and other mental health issues.

He said there should be a specific centre giving veterans and members of the armed forces world class treatment rather than a “confusing” multi-agency approach.

Billy is often contacted by veterans on the brink of suicide. He said: “The best cure for veterans with mental health problems are other veterans. Only a soldier really understands a soldier.

“Soldiers and veterans don’t want sympathy, they just need help from people who understand them. Sympathy is our worst enemy.”