VC Keith Payne says Kinchant Dam wellness centre will prevent multi-generational PTSD
Mackay veteran Keith Payne says a wellness hub will prevent multi-generational trauma passing on to family members of veterans and first responders with PTSD
Mackay
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Australia's oldest surviving Victoria Cross recipient, who received the award for an extraordinary act of bravery in Vietnam, has a new fight on his hands.
Mackay veteran Keith Payne is a co-patron of PTSD Frontline, the organisation pushing to develop a veterans and first responders wellness hub at Kinchant Dam, a pillar in the Daily Mercury's Hub for our Heroes campaign.
Mr Payne has proudly spent decades raising awareness for post-traumatic stress disorder and said the centre would prevent the multi-generational trauma his family, including wife Florence, had experienced.
"I haven't had enough support, nowhere near enough support," Mr Payne said.
"In the initial stage, when I was real bad with post-traumatic stress, you need the specialist giving advice and everything to the family because it's a damn dangerous time.
"It's either suicide or going crook at the family. Something's got to give."
Mr Payne said in his case, he went fishing for hours sleeping on the sandbanks only to return and start heavily drinking alcohol.
"I had a problem," he said.
"I was decreasing my PTSD but increasing the booze bit."
Mr Payne said he started advocating for PTSD awareness after seven of his battalion mates committed suicide in one year.
"I thought, 'My god, this is bloody dreadful'," he said.
The Vietnam War veteran is no stranger to putting others first, having risked his life to save 40 of his comrades during an ambush in Ben Het while injured from a rocket explosion - an act of bravery earning him the Victoria Cross.
The hero has since been awarded a member of the Order of Australia for his service to veterans' health and welfare and Ray Martin credited him as the person sparking growing calls for a Royal Commission into veteran suicides.
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Keith's son Colin said his father's own battles with mental health took a horrific toll as the trauma transferred onto family members.
"I have PTSD, most of us (five) boys have some psychological problems," Colin said.
"None of us do well under stress-related situations anymore. It's just been a hell of a ride.
"It affected dad directly but it affected the family unit as a whole."
Colin said it was "pretty much bloody impossible" to find PTSD support for the family.
He said while you could not "fix a broken head", having the Kinchant Dam hub would extend essential support services to relatives of veterans and first responders and keep families together.
"(PTSD) just goes through everybody, it's bloody horrific. It really is," he said.
"It's not an easy thing to live with.
"We talk about the amount of veterans who have committed suicide.
"One thing we've not looked at yet is how many family members have committed suicide because of what they've been through with the person who's suffering PTSD."
NATIONAL 24/7 CRISIS SERVICES
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467
Open Arms: 1800 011 046
MensLine Australia: 1300 789 978
beyondblue: 1300 224 636
Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800
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