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GOLDSTREAM NEWS GAZETTE - Friday, March 27, 2015
GOLDSTREAM Fond memories
Colwood pays tribute to its pioneers with new film Page A3
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Friday, March 27, 2015
Deborah Coburn 250.812.5333 Roy Coburn 250.812.1989
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Hot off the press Kate Wood, circulation assistant at the Goudy Branch of the Greater Victoria Public Library in Langford, holds the colourful new selection of library cards which became available to users on Monday. She says the new designs have been popular with library patrons, who have been replacing their standard blue cards. The originals are still available, but now have a keychain card attached. See story, Page A22. Don Descoteau/News Gazette staff
A soldier, a dog and a dragon One man’s struggle with PTSD and the four-legged friend who helps him
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yson King served for over 20 years in the Canadian military. To look at him, you might assume that. He’s a large, well-built man who exudes a pride and confidence that seems connected in some way to his patriotism. In January 1991 King joined as an army reservist and did two tours of the former Yugoslavia. He
Mike Davies Reporting
joined the full-time army in 1995 and went back for another tour, then returned to the same region later under NATO. In 1999, he transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and became a marine engineer. About a year ago, he says, “when the combination of my personal and work stress opened up that door and let that dragon out, it rocked me to my core.” That dragon is post-traumatic stress disorder, and it had been slumbering within him, dormant, for 21 years. Once it emerged, the fear of reliving the experiences he saw during his military service almost drove him to suicide.
In March of last year, he was close. But then, as he recalls it, “God painted a very vivid picture in my mind one night of the damage that would do to my wife and my son, and the following morning I made a commitment to not making that choice.” Instead, King found Cully, the now-two-year-old Australian shepherd. The dog has helped bring him peace and given him a glimmer of hope for his future after life in the service. PLEASE SEE: Veteran trying to move forward, Page A7
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