TAMPA, Fla. — Stephen Bradbeer served with the sniper platoon reconnaissance in Iraq.
After the war, he thought he was ok until his former comrades started dying by suicide.
“We got back. War's done, got out of the military. But yet, five more of my guys that I serve battles with died,” said Stephen.
He continued, “One of the guys I served with kills himself. And then, a few days later, another and another. And that's when you start going, what's going on? We all were in the same stuff.”
He tried to ignore his mental well-being until, one day, he woke up in a hospital with no memory.
“I had a really bad car accident. I had a bad head injury. So it's not uncommon to be in a car wreck, and your brain associates it to things that happened overseas, like an IED explosion. So that's when I realized there might be something more going on,” explained Stephen.
But he still didn’t think he had PTSD, even though his own therapist told him he did.
“’You need more help than I’m willing or I’m able to offer,’ He told me about this place called Camp Hope. And he was like, ‘I think you should go there.’ And still, at that point, I was that that’s PTSD. I don’t have PTSD. I might have a drinking problem, but it's not PTSD,” explained Stephen.
Reluctantly, Stephen agreed to visit Camp Hope provided by the PTSD Foundation of America.
Even though he was still in denial, the camp director told him this was where he needed to be.
“I won't forget this. He looked me dead in the face. He goes, ‘Hey, man, no, I've been here a long time. You're bad. You need to come. You need to come be with us for a little while. See how it goes,’” explained Stephen.
He finally agreed. And after months of talking and listening to other veterans Stephen realized he wasn’t alone anymore.
“This guy who's never met me didn't walk in my shoes and is describing me to a T. What he's saying is exactly what I feel and what I deal with daily. And so is this guy, and so is this guy, and that really, you can't deny something at that point,” said Stephen.
“I had about a four-and-a-half-year stint of really wrecking relationships and being angry and not being in my right mind. Mixing opiates with alcohol and not wanting to be around anymore,” said Nick Eckley, a veteran.
Nick served as a Marine for 6 years before getting injured by an IED in Afghanistan.
His addiction to pain meds and his struggle with PTSD put him in a very dark place.
“I called the VA suicide number, and I was on hold for 27 minutes. I got to a point I said, you know what, I'm done debating. I'm done trying to determine what I'm going to do. Like I'm just done, and I put the gun in my mouth, I pulled the trigger, and it did not go off,” explained Nick.
That’s when he realized he desperately needed help, and he too, checked into Camp Hope. Nick said it saved his life and taught him this valuable lesson.
“I don't have to carry all this on my own. I don't have to just be angry and upset and depressed and all of these negative emotions. I can be grateful for the path that I've been on,” said Nick.
So, Nick started a Tampa Chapter of the PTSD Foundation of America, an extension of Camp Hope. It’s an after-care program with veterans helping veterans, meeting weekly, and being there for one another.
“If they're in financial crisis, if they're a mental health crisis, if their housing crisis, whatever that case is, you know, we're going to meet you where you are. We're going to get you that help that you need and deserve,” said Nick.
Chris Thompson served with the Special Operations Marine Corps in Iraq and Afghanistan. What he endured on the battlefield left him with trauma and an addiction to alcohol.
“I got to a really, really, really low, low point. My drinking was just out of control. I drank before work, after work, thought about it while working,” said Chris.
He continued, “Drinking is the symptom, you know, it's not the cause. There's something more to it that's causing you to drink. And I didn't know what that was.”
Still trying to move on after serving in the war, Thompson became a police officer in Broward County, but that created even more trauma.
“All these horrible things were happening in my law enforcement life, and they were just making me re-experience everything from Iraq that I thought I had dealt with,” explained Chris.
So, when he founded the PTSD Foundation of America, he finally didn’t feel alone anymore.
“I knew I wasn't the only one out there. But you really don't know that until you meet other veterans,” said Chris.
He said talking to other veterans truly helps him keep going and be a better husband and dad.
“We learn from one another's experience, being able to meet frequently. And here's the secret. There's no end date,” said Chris.
He continued, “I'll be coming here until the day I die. You know, I'll be meeting other veterans regularly. And that's really what changed.”
Joe Maddage served in the Marine Corps dog infantry in Afghanistan with his IEF detection dog Molly.
“I recertified her as a bomb dog while she'd helped train me to handle her. So, we could be at the front of our patrols, searching for bombs,” said Joe.
Despite the stress of searching for explosives on patrol, he thought nothing of it. So he wanted to help other veterans when he heard about the PTSD Foundation of America.
“So, I start coming to the groups as a support person. And the longer I'm here and the more I'm listening, I'm like, holy crap. He's dealing with the same stuff I'm dealing with. He's saying the exact same things I'm thinking,” explained Joe.
Now he leans on other veterans through the organization for support.
“I can't be more grateful for the PTSD foundation,” said Joe.
He’s not alone. The Tampa chapter of the PTSD Foundation has already helped over 130 veterans, and their goal is to help every local veteran before it is too late.
“My whole team has certified and applied suicide intervention, crisis intervention, stress management, and you name it right. So, we are going to meet you where you're at, and we're going to do everything we can to make sure that you stay with us,” said Nick.
You can find out more about the PTSD Foundation of America by clicking here.
To contact the Tampa chapter of the PTSD Foundation, call 346-206-3676.
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