In March 2021, while watching Roman Kemps ‘Our silent emergency’, a documentary about mental health and suicide in young men, Tristan just started to cry, he didn’t know what was the matter, just he wasn’t himself. After seeing his doctor the following Monday, he was told to take a break from work, as it could of been a burnout from being itu, made sense mid covid. However this didn’t fix the issue, and the idea of working back on the ward made it worse. A couple of weeks later he was diagnosed with depression and put on antidepressants. Later diagnosed with PTSD. He was off work for 9 months. It’s been 3 years and he has never fully recovered.

PTSD - well he’s in the military, that’s normal. Is the reaction I mainly got when I spoke to people about it. Tristan was experiencing PTSD, and flashbacks to when Jess died, in the room again when they were doing CPR, carrying her coffin again. Although we shared these experiences, I really struggled to understand as I had blocked so much of this out, and have only seen the positives, and until this point I thought Tristan was the same.

As time went on Tristan started to experience suicidal thoughts, thankfully he could speak to me, and the doctors to rationalise the intrusive thoughts he was having, though they did go on for several months.

The military mental health team have been amazing! He’s had support throughout - and ongoing.

So I’m raising money for the combat stress charity, to help others going through what Tristan, and other families have been through. And as always, in memory of Jess.

Combat Stress are the UK’s leading charity for veterans’ mental health.

For over a century, they’ve helped former servicemen and women deal with trauma-related mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

They’re on a mission to raise awareness that invisible injuries can be just as hard to cope with as physical ones. So when a veteran is having a tough time, they’re there to help them tackle the past and take on the future.

Some of the money raised will go towards the trek.