Army medic honoured for raising awareness of PTSD

An Army veteran who lived with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for 17 years has received a national award for his mental health campaign work.

Kevin Russell, from Basildon, Essex, joined the Army aged 21 and served as a medic for five years, including in tours of Bosnia and Iraq.

While on tour in Afghanistan as a reservist in 2005 he witnessed two suicide bombings, which he said had a big impact on his mental health.

Now 46, he has received the Veteran Storyteller of the Year award by Combat Stress - a mental health charity for former armed forces personnel - for his work raising awareness of PTSD.

Russell said the attack in Kabul was "the worst day".

"Just the sheer volume of casualties, the number of civilians involved… the fact that we had dealt with one and then we had a second explosion," he added.

He said he "lied my way through the next 17 years" despite realising soon after the incident that it had significantly impacted his mental health.

It would take until 2022 before Russell would reach out to the charity for help with his mental health and since then he has worked with the organisation to raise awareness of PTSD.

He thanked the charity for saving his life and said it was an honour for his work to be recognised.

"It's a powerful reminder to me of how much I have helped to achieve since completing my own journey to recovery," the former medic said.

The charity said it was "so grateful" to Russell, whose efforts have "no doubt inspired veterans to come forward for help".

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