A Soldiers Silent Battle | Australian Army Veteran, Luke Adamson
In 2011 Luke Adamson was a Lance Corporal in the Australian Army serving as a Combat Engineer on a tour of Afghanistan. That's when he died...
While on patrol, Luke suddenly collapsed from what doctors could only describe as an anxiety induced heart attack. He flat lined for more than two minutes but miraculously survived. From that day on he was never the same.
Luke returned home suffering from post traumatic stress. It ended his defence career, caused the breakdown of his marriage and led him to turn to alcohol and prescription drugs to numb the pain.
It’s the kind of story that’s all too common among the men and women transitioning out of defence to civilian life and part of the reason there’s been more than 400 ADF veteran suicides since 2001.
But Luke’s story doesn’t end there... He’s bravely gone on to run his own charity ‘Heroes On The Homefront’ - helping veterans connect to the services and community that’s vital to their wellbeing at home.
It’s the mission that’s given him renewed purpose and a reason to live, after almost losing everything.