Kenny Meighan couldn’t drive on a country road without having a panic attack and would wake in bed drenched in sweat from nightmares.
The horrors Kenny, 25, of Fronks Road, Dovercourt, experienced in Afghanistan would return to him in flashbacks.
Seeing his friends get shot and a constant state of fear during his tour of duty left him with post traumatic stress disorder.
Kenny, a former private in the Royal Anglians, said: “When we came back from Afghanistan in 2007, we slept in eight-bunk rooms.
“During the night you could hear people having nightmares. I had nightmares where I would wake up covered in so much sweat.
“I couldn’t drive the back roads from Harwich to Clacton as it reminded me of the green zone in Afghanistan and I would have a panic attack.
“It was only the support of my family that got me through it.”
Kenny was 16 when he joined the Army. He served in Iraq and then Helmand Province in Afghanistan, where he was chosen to be point man for his platoon. That meant he would walk in front of the other soldiers and enter buildings first when they were securing areas or fighting for ground with the enemy.
He said: “I was terrified. You didn’t know if you would be the next person to die or be wounded, but you still had a job to do – you had your platoon to look after.
“One of my friends got shot and wounded right next to me.
“The bullet went past me and hit him.
“Other friends got hit by roadside bombs.
“It’s not something people talk about. There is a macho image.
“A lot of soldiers don’t know what is happening to them, and it can lead to suicide.”
It was hearing his fiancee was pregnant that made Kenny leave the Army in 2009.
He suffered feelings of guilt for not joining his platoon members when they returned to Afghanistan for a second tour.
After help from Combat Stress, a charity for soldiers with post traumatic stress disorder, Kenny was able to adjust to civilian life and is working in sales for a roofing firm in Colchester.
He and his wife, Samantha, are expecting a second child.
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