When horrific memories of the Rwandan genocide resurfaced, Daryl Bradley’s life fell apart. He lost his job, his marriage ended and he tried to kill himself.
But the St. Catherine’s, Ont., native said joining more than 180 other “Wounded Warriors” at a retreat near Nipawin last weekend was helping him to climb out of the depths of despair caused by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
“This is the best weekend I’ve had in a long time. My kids said, ‘Dad, you should go if it helps you,’ ” Bradley, 45, said in an interview Monday from Tobin Lake.
The father of three went to Rwanda in 1994 as a radio operator for the Canadian signals regiment. As many as one million people were killed. Assisting United Nations forces, Bradley spent several months at the sites of various massacres.
He came home to Canada, had three children with his wife and got a job. He seemed to function well as a civilian, but that changed in 2006.
His workplace put on a movie night and organizers played the award-winning film Hotel Rwanda. When he saw the film, one very specific suppressed memory returned.
In Rwanda, Bradley was walking through a field when he accidentally stepped on the dead body of a small child concealed in the tall grass.
Soon after, Bradley spiralled into a depression that cost him his wife and his job. After a suicide attempt, doctors diagnosed him with PTSD.
He’s now in counselling, and has taken other steps to improve his life.
“It’s a bit better, but I still have bad days,” he said.
Recently, a friend nominated him to participate in the Nipawin retreat, a project driven by hundreds of local volunteers as well as Wounded Warriors Canada.
Now in its second year, more than 180 veterans of Rwanda, Bosnia, Afghanistan and other conflicts flew in to Regina and were driven to Nipawin for several days of fishing, entertainment and camaraderie.
“It’s been amazing. I can relate to these people. It’s been a great experience,” Bradley said.
Wounded Warriors Canada executive director Scott Maxwell said the growing number of participants from Canada, the United States, Britain and Australia is wonderful to see, “but it sadly highlights the need for assistance.”
The group relies on private individual and corporate donors, and Maxwell said the money is well spent.
“If they could all come here, they’d see this is saving lives,” he said.
Blake Emmons, who organized the weekend with Nipawin’s Verda Hoppe, said things have gone better than expected.
“It’s what we prayed for,” he said.
The activities and entertainers, who ranged from Bob McGrath to Irish and Ukrainian dancers, helped lighten the mood, he said. The real benefit, however, is giving the veterans a place to gather and just “shoot the breeze.”
“Nobody else knows the guilt you can feel getting wounded, feeling like you’re leaving your buddies behind, or to have to replay the things you’ve seen in your mind,” he said.
“This weekend is changing their lives.”
thestarphoenix.com
