Ex soldier’s perfect fit
found himself at the heart of a story that shocked the city, his subsequent battle with PTSD and the moment he stumbled on his new future.
Back in 2010, the former soldier was a security supervisor overseeing the 3am close at Parkwood Tavern when a trio of men stormed in with a shotgun, rifle and pistol.
“Three of us were tied up facedown in the office,” Jayson said. “Being an ex-army boy, I thought they didn’t look like they really wanted to hurt us and I knew I’d be talking to the coppers so I lifted my head up to have a peek around the room.
“One of them went ‘What the (expletive) are you looking at?’ and bang – he jumped on my head, twisted it into the ground and I copped a couple (of kicks) in the guts.”
In Jayson’s words, the act of violence “screwed my neck up pretty bad” but that would prove the least of his concerns.
“The mental side is what gets you most,” he said.
“I didn’t want to believe I had a mental injury. I wasn’t scared or timid. I went the other way. I got really frustrated and angry and that was what made me have to give up my (security) job. I couldn’t let go of the thought I let those people down. I was meant to be their protector but I was helpless to do so.”
Jayson spent months on the couch. He drank more than he should. His diet was terrible. He ballooned to 117kg.
Then came the turning point: “A therapist suggested I get back into training.
“I wasn’t enjoying lifting weights and running on a treadmill, but a couple of trainers dragged me into group classes and that’s where I felt I belonged – in that team environment with a trainer on stage and the music cranking.
“Some people think group fitness is Jane Fonda and jazzercise. Not anymore. This is high-intensity training.
“I looked at the trainers on stage and thought ‘That’s what I want to do’ and now I am.”
He is indeed, hosting classes each week at gyms from the Tweed to Ashmore – and always with a smile on his face.
“I found happiness in fitness,” he said.
“It certainly saved my life.”