‘Worst f***ing nightmare’: ex-Geelong woman Alison Whitfield’s pain

A former Grovedale woman says her late husband was “let down constantly” after mental health complications stemming from military deployment caused him to take his own life. CONTENT WARNING.

Alison Whitfield lost her veteran husband David to suicide.

A former Geelong woman whose veteran husband died after a long battle with mental health has opened up on her “worst f---ing nightmare”, amid calls for defence minister Richard Marles to provide answers on the treatment of our returned servicemen and women.

David Whitfield, who served from 1997 to 2004 as a medic, committed suicide in February. His distraught wife Alison claims his mental health issues were caused by the anti-Malaria medication, Mefloquine, which he was prescribed during his service.

He was one of the 1157 soldiers given the drug during a two-year deployment in East Timor.

Ms Whitfield said he experienced nightmares, a known side effect of the drug, long after he returned from service, before suffering a “sharp mental decline”.

“He had lesions on his brain,” she said.

“A huge one at the frontal lobe, and he was just in constant pain.

David Whitfield served in the Australian Defence Force between 1997 and 2004.

“He’d go into these psychotic, suicidal meltdowns, and I’d be asking him to come down off the roof.”

Ms Whitfield said the episodes were happening once every six months at the start of their relationship but the frequency steadily increased.

And then, one February evening, he never came home.

“It was the first time he’d ever got into a car in one of those moods,” she said.

His death followed his appearance on ABC program Q+A in March last year, in an episode that also featured Veterans Affairs Minister Matt Keough.

Alison and David got married in 2019.

Ms Whitfield believes Mr Keough, who visited the Whitfields a month later – and the Department of Veterans Affairs – provided little support to her husband.

“He served his country and he was just let down constantly,” she said.

“By everybody.”

Ms Whitfield’s storycomes as Adelaide based campaigner, Julie-Ann Finney, has been travelling the country with photos of veterans – including Mr Whitfield – who have died by suicide.

Ms Finney’s son, David, a former navy petty officer who served for 20 years, also died in 2019.

Julie-Ann Finney is displaying photos at Geelong waterfront of Veterans who have died by suicide, one of which is her son David. Picture: Alison Wynd

Speaking from outside Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles Geelong office on Tuesday, she has called for the release of the report into the office of the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (IGDAF), something he has refused to do for six months.

“Don’t enlist until it’s fixed,” she said.

Ms Finney said she had received support from a number of families who had lost loved ones in similar circumstances to her son.

“They want me to get this message out there,” she said.

“People keep sending me these photos, they’re distressed that their kids are dead.”

David Whitfield’s photo on display at the Geelong waterfront.

Ms Finney was a driving force behind the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, which handed down its findings at the beginning of last week.

The commission’s final report, which spanned seven volumes, took three years to put together.

More than 6000 submissions painted a horrific picture of institutional failures and widespread bullying and abuse, and a wide gap between the suicide rates of those who had served and the civilian population.

The report was sensationally leaked after it was briefly uploaded to the royal commission’s website before being taken down.

According to the report, the 20-year review calls for new legislation to grant the inspector-general’s office greater independence from the Department of Defence.

For support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Barwon Health mental health, drugs and alcohol triage on 1300 094 187

Originally published as ‘Worst f***ing nightmare’: ex-Geelong woman Alison Whitfield’s pain