t on the open road Stories by Hollie McGowan
sonnel together

1 passion for motorcycles

munity act as companions, one
allows him to escape, and the
r that understands his past mili-
experiences.

all them your struggles or your
ons or whatever you want to call
,” Williams said. “You can meet
ith [other veteran bikers]. You
with them, you can communi-
sometimes it’s not even through
Is, they just get you and you get

»”

b Laing, a retired sergeant and
munications specialist in the
idian military, said his commu-
of veteran bikers continue to go
f their way to check on him even
1 times are tough. Once when
as in the hospital after a serious
accident, his veteran biker friends
- from all over the Lower Main-
to check in on him.
“The guys that I ride with came
from Agassiz, Mission, Abbots-
ford, Langley, Burnaby [and]
Vancouver,” Laing said. “They
all dropped in to see me to
make sure I was
doing OK,
and make
sure my
family was
doing OK.”
The network
of veterans
within the prov-
ince is strong, with a
substantial number
throughout British
Columbia. According
to Statistics Canada,
there are currently 87,700
war veterans living in the
province.
“A lot of veter-
ans, because
of their

PTSD, get stuck away in a closet,”
Laing said. “They don’t want to
come out, and they don’t want to see
anybody. And that’s why we have a
lot of veterans take their lives when
they get out because it’s just hard to
compete out here.

“[It’s] hard to live a civilian life after
you've lived in the military.”

Veteran bikers note the therapeu-
tic effects of simply getting on their
motorbikes and going for a ride.

“T call it my wind therapy,” Williams
said. “It allows you to be out; just have
the wind in your face, be in a moment,
appreciate your surroundings.”

Devin Wilkins, who was in the
United Nations Protection force in
Croatia during the Yugoslav wars
and is currently a member of the
Commandos Motorcycle Club, said
his bike rides are a form of medita-
tion for him.

“You have to be paying attention to
what you're doing,” Wilkins said. “So
everything else falls away.”

Veteran bikers also mention the
similarities between riding their bikes
and working together in the military.

“Tt's also a formation. It's us as a
group,” said Robert Seckler, presi-
dent of the Mainland Crew of the
Veterans UN NATO Canada. “So it's
structured like the military ... You're
trusting the people you're riding with
to keep you safe.”

Not only are they getting together
to ride, but many of the veteran biker
communities also do charity work
raising money for other war veteran
support services, military grave main-
tenance, seniors, bikes for underprivi-
leged children, and service dogs for
veterans.

“Our point is to help people,
primarily veterans, but we'll help
anybody,” Wilkins said regarding his
work with the Commandos Motor-
cycle Club. “It's good for our mental
health.”

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Bob Laing shows off his military medals, including (from left to right) one NATO medal, a Canadian Peacekeeping

Service Medal, UN forces in Cyprus Medal, UN Disengagement Observation Force Medal, Canadian Forces Decoration

Medal. Hollie MCGOWAN PHOTO

Group healing an alternative to therapy

Bike communities creating a more comfortable environ-
ment to talk about PTSD

ex-military personnel are support-
ing one another in dealing with
PTSD.

“A lot of guys will joke about some
of the stuff they’re dealing with,” said
Robert Seckler, president of the Main-
land Crew, a branch of Veterans UN
NATO Canada.

“They'll open up a little bit and one
of our members will just say, Hey, I'm
here if you need it.’ It's more of a safe
atmosphere to be able to talk to them
and we have a lot of guys who have been
trained extensively in PTSD counsel-

ncreasing numbers of Canadian

ling and stuff as well,” Seckler said.
“So, without making it such a formal
process of, ‘Hi, come on in let's talk

“One of our members
will just say, 'Hey, I'm

here if you need it.'”

— ROBERT SECKLER, PRESIDENT OF THE
MAINLAND CREW

about your PTSD, they can just have a
beer and talk about it and it really does
help them.”

Irene Brady, a counsellor in Pent-
icton, British Columbia who worked
with veterans dealing with wartime
trauma, said that the mental health
benefits for those that seek help within
their own communities are significant.

“When individuals who share a
common struggle come together, it
gives them the sense that they're not
alone in their struggle,” Brady said.

“Tt then creates a sense of connec-
tion which I think with PTSD and any
trauma experiences, you can feel very
isolated and disconnected from yourself
and from others.”

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Members of the Commandos Motorcycle Club, a club specifically for active and retired Canadian Armed Forces and Allied Military members, going for a ride.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WAYNE WILLIAMS

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