SUFFERING from battle stress, former Royal Marine Commando Craig MacLellan walked with his dog to recce the spot where he would take his own life.But as if she knew what he was about to do, Fudge the chocolate Labrador went rigid.Craig, 48, says: “She’d never done anything like it before and I actually said out loud, ‘I’m not going to do anything, girl’ and I kept my promise.”Instead, Craig contacted Combat Stress, which helps former service personnel suffering from mental health problems.The charity’s experts diagnosed Craig, who joined the Royal Marines at 16, as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.In 1989 he was at Deal Barracks in Kent when an IRA bomb went off, killing 11 Marines and injuring 21.Craig quit the Marines but later signed up for the Scots Guards, with whom he served in Northern Ireland.Craig says: “I saw horrific things that, even now, I can’t speak of. Friends were involved in incidents, and I lost one of them. A policewoman was shot right next to me.”Dog-lover Craig was allowed to take Fudge into therapy sessions where other veterans were being helped by Combat Stress.He says: “What happened next was amazing. It started with Fudge ambling round the room… Read full this story
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