Father daughter relationship - Emma and Paul

Paul attended the Combat Stress six-week residential PTSD Intensive Treatment Programme at the Tyrwhitt House treatment centre. To use his own words, "the treatment programme at Combat Stress, gave me the tools to be able to manage my PTSD and live a happier life. I’ve got my wife, my family and my life back." The following few words have been shared by Paul's daughter Emma. A reminder PTSD can have far reaching effects on the family. Thank you Emma for your heartfelt words.

So many of you will have seen my dad on TV over the weekend, maybe on Sky News, ITV news or BBC News. Some of you will recognise him and think ‘oh look, it’s Paul’, most people will look and think ‘oh no, what a horrible thing for someone to go through’ and maybe not give it a second thought after that. What so many of you won’t see is the father, the husband and the 17 year old boy who was prepared to give his life for his country.

For over 30 years my dad suffered with undiagnosed PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), an illness that shows no physical scars, an illness causing daily battles that someone suffering will tackle every day, just to survive.

The reason my dad has been on the news is because the funding has been cut for Combat Stress - the veterans' mental health charity. This is a charity who are specialised and equipped to deal specifically with veterans' mental health in a safe environment that allows veterans to speak and act the way they have been use to whilst they served.

Combat Stress saved my dad’s life. They gave him tools and techniques to cope and start living a happy civilian life where he could cope and be the best version of him; one without alcohol abuse, sleepless nights and living in a state of hyper-alertness and fear.

The Government, the people sending our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters to war are doing so without proper aftercare. These are the people who will never understand what it is to be willing to give your life for your country, who will never know real fear and never feel so alone with no way out after they have “survived” war.

These men and women are willing to give their lives for our country, Combat Stress help support them when they return home, enabling them to live their lives once they return home. This isn’t something where only the most severe cases are seen and supported, this should be available to all veterans.

• Read more about Navy veteran Paul Smith