'MoD has let us down': Wife of RAF Shawbury policeman who has served in Afghanistan releases video to tell story
A military wife who set up an online campaign about the effects of post traumatic stress after her husband tried to take his own life has attracted more than one million views.
Mother-of-three Nikita Dallison is claiming that her husband Luke, of RAF Shawbury, is being let down by the Ministry of Defence after he developed the condition while serving in Afghanistan.
The RAF policeman, 32, spent seven months there in 2012 and is struggling with his mental health.
Now Mrs Dallison has taken to Facebook using a storyboard to tell their moving story and to raise awareness of the issues which campaigners say is affecting countless of other service families.
In response the MoD said it takes its duty of care to staff "very seriously" and is offering a range of mental health services to them.
Mrs Dallison, aged 27, explained: "He seemed as excited as I was when we got married in January 2013 and when he was posted to Germany four months later I went with him. But over there he seemed different. He started splashing the cash and saying we have to live for the moment which is unlike him.
"By this point I was really worried not least because I'd fallen pregnant. There were flashes of anger in Luke I hadn't seen before. He also seemed convinced something was wrong with me - that I was moody or lying. It got worse after our son was born and he became convinced I had post natal depression."
The policeman was diagnosed with PTSD. After a spell in a treatment centre he was discharged and the couple returned to Shropshire on medical grounds in 2014.
However, in spring 2015 she arrived home one day to find her husband attempting to take his own life.
Mrs Dallison said: “I know I shouldn’t, but I just started punching him in the head and screaming at him. I was so mad at him. He was crying. All he could say was, ‘why did you come back?’”
"As things stand nothing has changed for Luke. The MoD has a duty of care to him and his family. If it gave him the care he needs that would be fantastic.They just keep failing and failing him. He is just a number and that is the brutal truth.
"Its not just Luke who is going through this. There are hundreds and thousands of people out there who have experienced the same thing. I have had many families contact me about what their loved ones have been through. They feel like they've been kicked into the kerb and they can't understand why this is happening.
"I started the poster campaign on social media out of pure desperation and now it has had one million views. While I think it's good that the Royals have taken up support for mental health issues, but they need to talk to real people face to face about it. My impression is that they have been fed the statistics and through no fault of their own they're not actually helping to change anything. I would be willing to sit down and speak to them about it. Too many people are being sidelined and their families isolated.It's not right or fair."
RAF Shawbury spokeswoman Sqn Ldr Kim Leach said: "The MoD takes its duty of care for the safety and wellbeing of its personnel very seriously and offers a range of mental health services to the entire military community. Cpl Dallison continues to be offered the full scope of medical support and welfare assistance available. Personnel from Cpl Dallison’s station and the Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen Families Association are in regular contact with him and his family.
"We are committed to providing our armed forces and their families with the support they need and have undertaken considerable proactive work to reduce the stigma associated with mental health and encourage personnel to seek help."
Cpl Dallison is due to be discharged from the military on May 23. North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson has confirmed that he is in contact with the family.
