Helping Hands Reach out to Soldier VVi 05 Aug 2010 PORT PERRY, Ont. - Sometimes there are different sets of tools needed to help a soldier move on from the darkness of war.
Perhaps the next thing worse to dying in a war zone is being steps away when it happens to six of your closest pals.
Robert Ayres understands that horror.
"It's not an easy thing to witness," says the 25-year-old Orangeville resident. "It was a day that changed my life."
He learned post traumatic stress disorder is real.
The young private was part of Royal Canadian Regiment battalion which lost six soldiers during an offensive action into southern Afghanistan. In fact, he was in an armoured vehicle right behind the one that was blown up by an improvised explosive device.
After what he witnessed April 8, 2007, Rob wasn't sure he would be able to go on. But for Sgt. Donald Lucas, Cpl. Brent D. Poland, Cpl. Christopher Paul Stannix, Cpl. Aaron E. Williams, Pte. David Robert Greenslade, and Pte. Kevin Vincent Kennedy, he vowed he would find a way.
And something happened Tuesday that will help him do that.
It was also a special day at Uxport Tools on North Point Rd. in Port Perry. Owner Randy Lyon got to play his part in helping a brave, young Canadian adjust back into Canadian life.
There was Randy walking around his shop with Rob, picking out all of the tools the young man will need to embark upon a new career as a carpenter and woodworker. After coming home from the war, Rob, with the help of Veterans Affairs, went to Conestoga College in Kitchener to study how to make furniture.
The problem was he did not have the tools needed to be able to go out and apply what he learned.
Enter the Wounded Warriors fund and the help of Uxport Tools. The fund, established four years ago in honour of the first severely wounded soldier in Afghanistan, Sapper Mike McTeague, has helped out hundreds of Canadian soldiers in hospital. And afterwards, they get help with everything from iPods to a meeting with a celebrity to assistance with altering a vehicle to fit their amputation issues.
"We have raised $1 million for the wounded warriors and we have done it through the great support from partners like Iceberg Vodka, the CAW, from celebrities like Don Cherry and Walter Gretkzy and mainly from the generosity of Canadians sending in a $20 bill," said founder Capt. Wayne Johnston, who is also the repatriation officer at CFB Trenton. When Johnston heard about what all Rob went through, he thought the fund would be able to help him get on with his transition. The fund offered $5,000 and Randy provided those tools at cost and arranged for Rob to get another $5,000 worth of tools of such quality as Black and Decker and DeWalt.
"I am so proud of all of our men and women who have served in Afghanistan and this is a very nice young man who we are pleased and proud to try to help," said Randy.
It is appreciated, says Rob, who admits "it's overwhelming" because the last few years have been a living hell for him.
"I still have nightmares and flashbacks," he said. "It's getting better but when I first got back when I heard fireworks, I immediately hit the floor and my heart started racing. It brings you right back there."
As Johnston so honestly puts it: "Some have their flesh torn off, some have their souls taken from them and some suffer from both."
To help him get back, Rob said Veteran's Affairs and the Canadian Armed Forces, which he has now left, have been extremely supportive -- specifically his counsellor, Tami Guilbert, who has helped him adjust back into society.
Another positive influence has been his wife, Stacey, who "is my soul mate and best friend who has been so patient and supportive."
The road has been bumpy but this kid has not forgotten why it is so important he move forward.
"I have life, which is something they don't," he said of his friends and fellow warriors who were killed in front of him. "In my life I want to honour them and the other great soldiers who died or who were wounded over there."
And he now has the tools to do just that. http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2010/07/28/14850476.html joe.warmington@sunmedia.ca