Not-for-profit support organisation Soldier On to help veterans in regional areas
Sarah Watson spent 18 years in the Australian Army and was medically discharged in 2015 and diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder. She is now back on her feet thanks to a not-for-profit organisation who now want to help veterans in regional areas.
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Former intelligence officer Sarah Watson still treasures the letters she would get weekly on her tour of Iraq from her nanna.
They were the “morale boost” she needed to get her through difficult days and remain a constant reminder that she is loved and supported.
After spending 18 years in the Australian Army, Ms Watson was medically discharged in 2015 and diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
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She is back on her feet thanks to the help of Soldier On, a not-for-profit veteran support organisation for which is now an ambassador and credits with sparking her love of cycling.
“They selected me for a team to cycle over in Italy. I cycled … in a pro-amateur race with Hamish Blake and Cadel Evans, which gave me a whole new direction in life,” the mum-of-two said.
Soldier On launched an awareness campaign on Thursday aimed at shining a light on providing support services to struggling veterans and their families in regional areas.
The organisation currently supports more than 2600 Aussie veterans and plans to expand into regional areas including northern NSW, country Victoria, the Northern Territory and Tasmania.
Former AusAID stabilisation adviser David Savage became Australia’s first civilian casualty in Afghanistan when his patrol was attacked by a suicide bomber in 2012.
“(They) infiltrated the patrol I was on … 64 ball bearings went through me so I had traumatic brain injury, a broken left arm and right leg, and spinal injury,” Mr Savage said.
“I’ve got a ball bearing in my spine which is why I’m in a wheelchair.”
Mr Savage said he was grateful for the “invaluable” support that he received from Soldier On when he was injured: “It’s been not just support for me or my wife but also our children … to provide assistance to them that I as a father was no longer able to.”
After returning from Afghanistan where he watched his friend die, James Millis found it impossible to adjust back into his normal routine.
“(I was) struggling with everyday life, so loud noises, crowded places, family as well — they tried overly hard and that made me more isolated from them,” the former special forces medic said.
He said his life changed after his wife reached out to Soldier On, who invited him on a surfing holiday with other veterans in 2014.
“It was one of those sliding door moments. It was like, bang,” Mr Millis said. “I really don’t know the direction my life would have taken without Soldier On.
Originally published as Not-for-profit support organisation Soldier On to help veterans in regional areas
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