Sleep Out for Veterans 2011

Mike Buss and his Beyond Impossible team are set to help get the message out about the real life effects of war and why so many of our heroes are now homeless or serving sentences in prison through no fault of their own.

The Beyond Impossible team including ex-soldier Gary Bradshaw who served with Mike in the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Green Jackets were in Swindon today to launch their Sleep Out for Heroes event in conjunction with Help for Heroes at the BBC Big Screen.

Mike Buss served with the British Army. It was during an operational tour of Northern Ireland that saw Mike almost killed by an IRA car bomb whilst out on patrols. He was only 20 feet from the explosion that saw 2 soldiers killed that day and 34 injured, including Mike.

Due to Mike’s injury he was medically discharged from the army after serving the best part of 10 years. A career that was all he ever wanted from the age of 10 years old.
Mike said “the day I was told he was going to be medically discharged from the army, my whole life fell apart. My heart raced, I had never experienced life outside the wire. What did civilian life have in store for me and I was devastated.”

It wasn’t long after Mike left the army that he found himself in London and eventually a statistic. Reports have found as many as 1 in 4 people on the streets of London and other cities across the UK are ex-soldiers, of which, many of them are suffering from mental illnesses such as PTSD bought on by duties such as recent combat tours of Iraq & Afghanistan.

It is reported that as many as 17,000 serving and ex-serving soldiers are suffering from PTSD and it is expected that a time bomb is ticking that could see over 100,000 PTSD sufferers in the next decade.

For many PTSD won’t even surface for up to 14 years and for Mike who is being treated for PTSD himself was only aware that he could be suffering from it in the last year, triggered by recent events in his personal life totally un associated with war.

Mike said “I feel guilt that I’m here and others aren’t, why was I spared?”

“I see the guys in Afghanistan right now and would go tomorrow if asked and stand side by side with my fellow soldiers, but I can’t so I do what I can back here raising money and awareness for wounded soldiers needs when they come home. These guys are heroes, and they should be treated as so and not left to rot on the streets of our cities.”

On Thursday 17^th November, when Swindon turns on their Christmas Lights, Mike and many others will be sleeping outside in aid for Help for Heroes under the BBC Big Screen. So, why not join us and spend one night sleeping rough to see just how it feels to sleep under the stars with no one caring if you live or die.

And if you can’t join the sleep out, then we will be out in force that night with collection tins. Mike Buss said “I’d like to think we can raise £4,000 from the expected 10,000 Swindon residents that will be out to see the start of the festive season in Swindon.”

If you would like to support this event and join the sleep out event, then please contact Kirsty Heber-Smith at inSwindon on 01793 485 523 and register your place. Or you can make a donation online at http://www.bmycharity.com/moreradiowiltshire

Without our sponsors, this event wouldn’t be possible. A big thank you to InSwindon, FLIC Wiltshire, Johnsons Cars, Millets, Beyond Impossible Personal Training and MORE Radio FM.

If your company would like to support this event with volunteers or sponsorship please contact Mike on 07791 356 482.

 

 

Category: Mike Buss