A military veteran from the island suffering from post traumatic stress disorder has just returned from an off-roading expedition in Portugal.

Former Royal Engineer Rob Burgess took the trip with the support of a new charity, VetRun180, which provides all-expenses paid adventure therapy breaks to former service personnel suffering from PTSD.

Rob said: ’I’m not ashamed of suffering or telling people how I’ve been. If it helps just one person to come forward then I can sleep better at night. There may be a stigma but those who were there understand.’

After other therapies failed to help him, Rob, who is 37 and lives in Douglas, said he was lost and suicidal.

’I have lost so much to PTSD; my kids, all my money, my business, my cars. I was homeless for a time. I truly lost everything. I didn’t think I had anything else to lose,’ he said.

’VetRun180 were advertising on Facebook for ex-servicemen to join their inaugural off-road therapy expedition and I decided to try my luck and apply with just a week’s notice.

’My boss was so supportive. The difference in me, from just one week of banging around off-road in Portugal has been enormous.’

VetRun180 is the creation of two former Royal Marines who have also suffered from PTSD.

Matt ’Bish’ Bispham and Matt Abbott found an escape from their symptoms when they joined a vehicle expedition across the Moroccan Sahara earlier this year, so they decided they wanted to help others enjoy the same benefits. Rob said the 12 veterans suffering from PTSD, who took part in the trip, had all felt very alone after being medically discharged from the services.

’It was really, really good to get away. It was a complete break from it all - from the memories.

’A bit of adventure training, which I miss from my army days; being with lads again who are all like-minded. It was just like being back in, but with a rather slower routine - and I have a massive beard now,’ he said.

He described how a close friend was killed in an accident while training to remove a temporary bridge built by the Royal Engineers following the floods in Cumbria.’

’A section of the bridge fell on him and killed him. All of us lads who were there have found things difficult since. There were times when I had this uncontrollable hulk rage,’ he said.

Recalling army life, he said: ’I miss it. Everyday, everyday.

’I miss the company and being part of a team. I miss the purpose. But this organisation has given me hope again. They are planning to take injured vets to Dubai and the United States next year, maybe even on snow mobiles in Colorado too, and they have asked me to go along as support staff on one of the trips.

’So I have something to look forward to again. I also know there are a lot of people worse off than I am, and they need helping out. ’

VetRun180 is funded by donations from a board of private trustees.

One trustee loaned the organisation a fleet of Land Rovers, and the veterans and their support crew spent 10 days exploring Portugal’s off-road trails, from the mountains in the north down to the Atlantic coast.

’I recommend any veteran who is feeling down, or suffering from any injury or PTSD symptoms, to contact VetRun180,’ Rob said.

’They showed me such an act of kindness, and I want to return it to others, tenfold. I had already trained as an NLP practitioner and a hypnotherapist and that was helping me, but this has cemented my way forward. My mind is clear for the first time in years.’