London: Singer Mel B has said that more needs to be done in order to help those in the forces dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following the death of her former bodyguard, Corporal Ash Nickles (31).
Corporal Ash Nickles, an Afghanistan war veteran, was found dead at his home wearing his ceremonial blues uniform along with his medals on November 22, reports dailystar.co.uk.
It is reported that the former Marine sought help from two different medical centres for his PTSD, but both allegedly turned him down.
And this did not go down well with Mel B. She said: “It was a damming indictment of lack of help for those suffering from PTSD, who are in such desperate need. I talked a lot to Ash about PTSD. I suffer from it as a result of an emotional and abusive marriage and he suffered from it as a result of what he went through and what he saw in war zones.
“I met Ash more than a year ago because he looked after my daughter Phoenix. He watched out for her like she was his own daughter. She loved him. I remember thinking, ‘this man would take a bullet for my child’. Our worlds were so different, but we had a connection.”
Ash was in the defence forces for 12 years and apparently suffered mentally after leaving the Marines.
Ash later began a fitness training company and worked as a bodyguard and security consultant in Sierra Leone and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mel B said that she struggles with the idea that he didn’t call her to ask for help but she thinks maybe his pride got in the way.
A Just Giving page set up to cover costs for Ash’s funeral had a goal of collecting 2,000 pound (around Rs 1.85 lakh), but it ended up raising more than 17,000 pound (around 15 Rs lakh).
IANS