Many Veterans struggle to cope after service or later in life. Your donation gives Veterans safety, purpose, and hope when they need it most.
Shaun was just 17 when he joined the RAF. He spent his 19th birthday deployed in Iraq. At just 20 years old, he was medically discharged due to hearing loss, ending his career overnight.
In the years that followed, Shaun struggled to rebuild his life, experiencing homelessness and depression, and eventually tried to take his own life. Here, Shaun shares his story in his own words.
Like many Veterans, I’d been trained to cope, to crack on, to not make a fuss. Asking for help felt like failure. So instead, I kept everything in - until it started to break me.
"Last January, I battled through snow to reach the doors of Erskine’s new activity centre in Forres. I was determined to be there for its opening, and I was. What people didn’t see was what came before that.
I joined the RAF in 1997. While deployed in Iraq on my 19th birthday, I was told a missile was heading towards our position. In that moment, I believed I might never see my wife and child again. Just a year later, I lost 50% of my hearing. My military career ended overnight. Soon after, I became homeless, and depression followed.
In the weeks before that snowy morning, I tried to end my life. Not because I wanted to die, but because I couldn’t see a way for the pain to stop.
Erskine gave me safety, understanding, and a future. Without the generosity of people like you, these doors would never have opened - and I wouldn’t be here today.
You saved my life. Now I’m asking you to save another. Because right now, there are Veterans in that same dark place I was - feeling they have nowhere to turn.
