Surf Action - Supporting Combat Veterans

The case of retired Major Trevor Luttrell.

My name is Trevor Luttrell. I served in the British army from 1964 to 1996, starting as a private soldier in the Intelligence Corps and retiring as a Major. During this time I was posted to various active service locations around the world, including Aden (1965 to 1967), Northern Ireland (1976 to 1978) and Dhofar province in Oman (1972 to 1974). I was also attached to the British Embassy in Bulgaria (1978 to 1981) which, although not classified as an active service posting had, due to the political situation at the time, many active service elements in the situation.

During these periods of active service I often thoroughly enjoyed the hazardous positions I found myself in and, like other soldiers in similar situations often got a real 'buzz' from the dangers inherent in them  eg, coming under fire or being under hostile surveillance.  It was not until some time after I had finished my service that I started to suffer from flashbacks and dreams which often vividly took me back to situations I had encountered in my military service. These recalled memories were triggered by one of more of my senses eg, usually a particular sight, sound or smell, and as the years went on they seemed to getting worse and would sometimes manifest themselves in what seemed to be irrational reactions to certain circumstances. For instance a sudden, unexpected loud, sharp cracking noise would sometimes bring back experiences of being under fire, or the unexpected sound of a certain accent would bring on an instant feeling of  heightened personal alert which could, depending on the circumstances, almost cause me to take a violent reaction under which, for a few seconds, I would not be under control of myself. I also do not react well to close personal contact with someone I do not know well.

I recognized that I was suffering from a mild form of delayed combat stress (now called PTSD) and undertook courses in Reiki (Japanese relaxation therapy) hypnotherapy and Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) to try and understand how these experiences from my past were effecting my situation. I gained a lot from becoming a therapist in these various disciplines, and while I still suffer from flashbacks I now know how to manage them.  This led me to wanting to help those who also suffer from similar symptoms but do not have the knowledge to ameliorate them.

I came to Surf Action as a result of attending a metal health clinic in Penzance which tries to help veterans suffering from often severe forms of PTSD.  I had never done surfing before and was intrigued as to how it could work. Acting as an impartial observer I have seen the tremendous and often rapid improvements in other PTSD sufferers participating in Surf Action activities and I rapidly found out that Surf Action 'does exactly what it says on the  tin'.

On a personal basis I have found that learning to surf calms me down and the sheer physical activity of just learning to surf, plus the very close camaraderie built up with other participants has shown me that Surf Action is a very cost effective way of treating PTSD as well as personnel with physical problems eg amputees.