Surviving PTSD &; moral injury : How an Afghanistan veteran breaks the silence on mental illness

Life and death in the operating room in Kandahar, Afghanistan. An honest story of loss, moral dilemma, survival and hope. In the summer of 2007 Erik Krikke is deployed to Afghanistan as a military operating room nurse. The war is in full swing. Day in, day out people do all they can to save lives and limbs at the NATO Role 3 MMU hospital at Kandahar Airfield. This is an underexposed side of war. All the experiences get under Erik's skin. Performing surgery on the many severely wounded military personnel, police officers and civilians, under primitive conditions, turns the aid worker into a victim. His toughest battle would start years later though. As a veteran he has to confront and fight his PTSD, but above all, himself. "Round the clock assisting in war surgery got to him. He went from aid worker to victim when he was confronted by his PTSD some years later. This realistic book shows his battle and how he got back up after he hit rock bottom. I am proud of him." General Tom Middendorp, Netherlands Chief of Defence (ret.)