Portsmouth navy veteran looks to pay back charity for '˜saving his life'

A VETERAN who was left '˜broken' by the traumas of war is leading the charge to raise cash for the charity which '˜gave him a new reason to live' after it suffered a devastating funding blow.
Dave Coomber (Falklands veteran) is setting up a fundraising event for Combat Stress. The charity helped him cope with his PTSD but it is now facing a funding shortage after the NHS axed £3.2m in support.

Dave with his wife Janice who served 22 years in the Wrens.

Picture: Keith Woodland (180128-023)Dave Coomber (Falklands veteran) is setting up a fundraising event for Combat Stress. The charity helped him cope with his PTSD but it is now facing a funding shortage after the NHS axed £3.2m in support.

Dave with his wife Janice who served 22 years in the Wrens.

Picture: Keith Woodland (180128-023)
Dave Coomber (Falklands veteran) is setting up a fundraising event for Combat Stress. The charity helped him cope with his PTSD but it is now facing a funding shortage after the NHS axed £3.2m in support. Dave with his wife Janice who served 22 years in the Wrens. Picture: Keith Woodland (180128-023)

Falklands hero David Coomber is setting up a fundraiser for Combat Stress following a desperate plea for help by the armed forces cause last week.

As reported by The News, the NHS is pulling the plug on its £3.2m support for the charity’s intensive treatment programme for traumatised servicemen and women with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in June.

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Mr Coomber, of Winstanley Road, in Stamshaw, said had it not been for the tireless work of the charity to help him overcome his PTSD he could have lost everything.

‘They helped me out of a dark pit – one that had no light or escape,’ said the 54-year-old Royal Navy veteran. ‘I was broken, they gave me my life back – they saved me.

‘They gave my wife her husband back and my children their dad back. I owe them everything.

‘If I thought it would make money for Combat Stress I would walk across broken glass barefoot.’

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Mr Coomber was just 19 when he went to war during the Falklands conflict in 1982. It was during his time on board HMS Intrepid that his PTSD began to fester.

‘We were in “Bomb Alley” getting air raids constantly – I couldn’t sleep for three days,’ said the dad-of-two. ‘We saw horrible things. We had survivors of (RFA Sir) Galahad come on ship after she was bombed – they had 90 per cent burns.

‘We were right next to HMS Antelope when she exploded. We were dodging death every day.’

Mr Coomber was diagnosed with PTSD 20 years after the war and said he ‘repressed it’ until it came back ‘5,000 times worse’ after the death of his sister in 2016.

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That’s when he sought help from Combat Stress, undertaking a two-week residential course at Tyrwhitt House, in Leatherhead, Surrey and a six-week intensive treatment programme.

‘Veterans could die if Combat Stress isn’t funded,’ he added.

Mr Coomber’s fundraiser is from 2pm on Sunday, April 29, at The Rose In June, in Milton Road, Copnor.

It will feature live music, a raffle, disco, barbecue and karaoke.

He is appealing for people to donate raffle prizes. To help, email [email protected] or call 07891 206968.