A former soldier who suffered severe post-traumatic stress disorder when he returned from fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan has told how a trip to play golf in St Andrews saved his life.
The father-of-two was on the verge of becoming an alcoholic until he travelled to the home of golf with other traumatised war veterans on a trip organised by local charity St Andrews Legacy.
The former soldier, who we have been asked not to identify, said: “When I arrived in St Andrews for my first visit less than 12 months ago, unbeknown to most people I was on the verge of being a full-blown alcoholic, as well as a regular abuser of prescription medication.
“However, I managed to hide my problems from everyone, especially the people that loved me the most, for the best part of 10 years.”
He said he had always been a “confident guy”, but even as he became a husband and father, the things he’d seen and done had been taunting him since returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, leaving him with a daily struggle just to make it to the next day.
He said losing countless close friends “only makes the struggle harder, leaving you with a deep feeling of guilt”.
He added: “When I first found out I was going on the trip in 2014, I was at the fork in the road.
“The point where I felt that drinking heavily was the answer and the thoughts of suicide were becoming more and more common.
“My wife was probably going to leave me, which would have undoubtedly made the situation I was in worse.
“That was until I visited St Andrews.
“The impact that that trip had on my life has been profound. Quite honestly, it saved my life and changed the direction I was headed.
“Since that first trip, my life has completely turned around from where I would have become just another statistic, leaving a widow and a child without a father.”
Statistics show that 22 US veterans are killing themselves every day.
He added: “It doesn’t have to be this way, and thanks to St Andrews Legacy I’m not going to be that statistic.”