FORMER soldiers say they have a Colchester mental health organisation to thank for turning their lives around.

Veterans First is run from The Lakes, next to Colchester General Hospital.

Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg met with staff and patients to find out what more could be done to help veterans.

Run by Diane Palmer, Veterans First is a one-stop shop for veterans who need help, whether it be to find a homes, help in dealing with post traumatic stress, or finding out if they got the right pay-out for an injury.

Former 3 Para Adam Randle, 29, who was based at Colchester Garrison has been using the service since 2012.

He said he knew something wasn’t right when he returned home from Afghanistan in 2006.

He said: “I had two weeks off and I was having dramas and getting myself arrested.

“I went back to Afghanistan and did the last few months and really just cracked on.”

When Mr Randle’s six-month tour ended, he went home. He said: “I was drinking and didn’t know where my head was at.”

Halstead Gazette:

The only time Mr Randle – who served in Northern Ireland as well as Iraq and Afghanistan – felt at ease was when he was sliding down a mountain of ice with the British Bobsleigh team.

He said: “By 2008, I was having more dramas and more panic attacks.”

He said he tried to get help three times from the Army, adding: “I was trying to be honest and explain my situation, but it felt like they threw it back in my face.”

The former Para then decided to leave the Army.

He said: “I couldn’t go back to Afghanistan. I kept thinking ‘what if I freeze and a bloke dies?’ I couldn’t live with that.”

After trying to get a job in civilian life, Mr Randle got in touch with Veterans First through the Afghanistan Trust, set up by Col Stuart Tootal, who led 3 Para into Helmand at the start of the Afghan War.

Mr Randle said: “Diane has been absolutely brilliant.

“She is always there. We have a laugh one day, I cry the next day and I want to argue with her the next day, but that’s how it is.

“I’m not perfect, I never was, but I am a completely different person to what I was when I came in here and that’s down to Veterans First.”

Simon Peacock, who served as infantry in the Royal Anglian Regiment, was seriously injured when he was hit in the chest by a grenade in 2007, during Operation Herrick 6.

Mr Peacock also suffered a traumatic brain injury, which meant he could barely remember the names of his family.

He has battled his way back to almost full health with the help of Veterans First.

He said: “I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for them.”

Mr Peacock – who now works in Southend as a Braille teacher – left the Army in 2011, having tried to seek help from them.

He said: “I was suffering from chronic post traumatic stress disorder and I wouldn’t even go outside my house. To find somewhere like Veterans First and find somewhere where I felt comfortable to actually go and seek care was amazing.

“I was a completely different person four years ago. I was drinking and I had become a recluse and my confidence had gone from sky high as a trained soldier to right down to the bottom.

Diane has been brilliant. I wouldn’t where I am now if it wasn’t for her.”