PH
Steven in Afghanistan (right)
At the age of 41 I was at a crossroads in my life. I’d worked in a few unfulfilling jobs but I’d wanted to do something medical. Ideally I wanted to work for Médecins Sans Frontières, the medical charity that does all kinds of good work in dangerous places. But seven years training to be a doctor or five years as a nurse seemed a bit too long; I’d be geriatric before I got to do anything.
Somehow I found out I could get medical training in the army, so I joined up. After completing my training, I signed up to a tour with the Grenadier Guards as an advance team medic and flew to Afghanistan in April 2012. While the rest of the country enjoyed the Diamond Jubilee celebrations and the London Olympics, we were taking over compounds and doing strike operations in Helmand province. It was my one and only tour so I have nothing to compare it with.
I got my wish to be a medic but it came at a heavy price. Our platoon suffered appalling casualties. Early one morning, my mate Jay was hit by an IED (improvised explosive device) and lost both legs. I treated him as well as I could. I remember holding his shattered leg off the mud and hearing him screaming as we carried him through the poppy fields and put him on the chopper.
I thought he was going to die because his injuries were so horrific. It was only when I got back that I knew he had survived. Stuff like that doesn’t leave you. For many years the memory of his shattered body was the last thing I thought about before going to sleep and the first thing I thought about on waking up. When I came home in October 2012.
I remember sitting on the Tube in London, among all the commuters and the tourists, in my crisp, clean uniform but there was still blood on my boots. I knew then I’d had enough.
I left the army and retreated to Kenya where I got a job working with an outdoor adventure company. For about a year it was fine but then things started to change.
I became short-tempered and stressed about everything. When I ran short of funds I did some private security work in northern Kenya and South Sudan, looking after aid workers in war zones. It was the worst thing I could have done as it made me even more anxious and hyper-vigilant.
PH
Steven Price Brown with the crew of the Spirit Of Falmouth
I was eventually diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in October 2014 and returned to the UK, my ticket home paid for by friends, but I ended up homeless and living in a hostel while undergoing therapy.
When my precious mum Margaret June died from cancer a month after I got back I was so broken I couldn’t even go to her funeral. A year later I heard about Turn To Starboard, a charity which helps military personnel suffering with physical injuries or mental trauma by providing sailing trips and courses.
THE charity’s founder, former RAF squadron leader Shaun Pascoe, was planning an epic 2,000-mile voyage around Britain from the Cornish port of Falmouth on a 92ft-tall ship called the Spirit Of Falmouth, crewed by veterans, many of whom had little or no sailing experience.
The aim was to help participants gain new skills while raising awareness of the challenges facing those who have left the military. I knew I had to do something to help myself so I applied and was accepted.
PH
‘I was eventually diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in October 2014’
But when it came to it I walked around Falmouth for nearly three hours before I fi nally got the strength up to get on the boat. There I met my fellow veterans, many of whom had spent time living on the streets, others lying in hospital beds, many alone and silently angry. During the two-month voyage which set sail on June 1 last year, we battled strong winds and huge waves.
It also gave us an opportunity to tackle our inner demons with the companionship of fellow veterans. For a lot of lost souls it was a cathartic process. I discovered a new love of nature and a whole new purpose in life. Those aboard became my family, giving me a focus and teaching me new skills. I’ll never be able to fully repay them.
Extracted from Riddle Of The Waves by Steven Price Brown (Bloomsbury, £16.99). To order with free UK delivery, call The Express Bookshop on 01872 562310, send a cheque/PO payable to Express Bookshop to Express Bookshop, PO Box 200, Falmouth TR11 4WJ or online at expressbookshop.com. To follow the current Turn To Starboard Round Britain Challenge visit turntostarboard.co.uk/ round-britain-challenge-2017