Twenty years of healing for Canadians injured in friendly fire bombing in Afghanistan
Their part in the nighttime live-fire training drill was done. Other members of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry were spread to their left and right along the ridge, firing the last of their rounds, including a blast with a shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon.Sign up to receive daily headline news from Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
Twenty years, almost a generation, have passed since Canadians had that visceral, modern reminder of the loss and sacrifice of war. Hollister took shrapnel in his face and neck and suffered burns, post-concussion syndrome and some hearing loss. He was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.“All in all, I didn’t lose any body parts or anything like that. I’m alive,” he says, downplaying his injuries, something soldiers do.
“It was super dark that night. There was no moon. Lots of stars. It was a clear night and we’re out doing what we were told to do,” Brennan says. He was waiting with other soldiers who had finished. Some of the injured declined to talk about their experience when contacted by National Post. Others did not return messages or could not be reached. All those who were interviewed say contact with fellow soldiers was key to their mental recovery.
Hollister, now 49 and originally from Cupar, Sask., and Ford, now 53 and originally from Brampton, Ont., faced a special burden. They both lost men who were directly under their command, soldiers right there beside them when the bomb hit. “It’s just body positioning, timing, whatever you want to call it. Accidental, freak of nature, act of God. I don’t know how to explain it.”“I’ve never, ever wanted to leave,” Ford says. “I thought there was a time that I might have to leave,” because of his injuries. “I knew that I could never be a section commander again, leading troops, but there was something that I could do.” He started training young paratroopers.
Hollister also wanted to stay in the military but feared he would have to leave. He credits Jennifer, the woman who was his girlfriend at the time of the bombing but now is his wife, for getting him through his PTSD. They have two kids, aged 14 and 12.Article content
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