(2/3) “I kept having these nightmares of being trapped in a...

(2/3) “I kept having these nightmares of being trapped in a burning vehicle. They were non-stop. I’d wake up screaming and I couldn’t breath. I wasn’t sleeping at all. I was overworked and going through a horrible divorce. At the time I was working as a medic on a SWAT team, and one night at work I had a really bad flashback. We were about to serve a warrant. All of us were in the back of a truck and it was completely dark because we were preserving our night vision. And somebody turned on a red flashlight to adjust their equipment. And I’m seeing our shadows on the wall, and suddenly I think we’re in a helicopter. And I’m trying to fight it but it seems so real. I’m telling myself, ‘Keep it together. Keep it together.’ I know it’s not real but I’m actually smelling the fuel and hearing the sounds of the turbine. And then the back door opened. And the next thing I know, I’m standing on the third floor of this building with no idea how I got there. And that was the last raid I ever did. We had a training session later that week. Afterwards I closed myself in a van, put down my rifle, and started to cry. I was stressed to the hilt. The next day I started looking for help.”