CARL'S Story

Carl served in the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment for five years and was medically discharged due to a back injury incurred whilst serving.

Pre-deployment training

Carl was in Poland, completing his pre-deployment training exercises (prior to a tour of Afghanistan) when he fractured his spine. Unfortunately, his injury was not investigated immediately and this led to Carl developing Scheuermann’s Disease, a deformity of the lower vertebrae. After nine months of extreme discomfort, he finally received an x-ray, and the spinal fracture was revealed. He was sent to Headley Court for treatment but by that time, it was too late to repair. Carl now permanently suffers from intermittent severe and debilitating lower back and leg pain.

A change of situation

Carl did not want to leave the military; he would still be serving now if he was physically able to do so. The situation changed his life, all his military goals and ambitions were gone and he was forced to move on.

Upon leaving the military, Carl tried his best to carry out various jobs. He was only qualified to do low paid, manual work but due to his painful condition he found it difficult to sit or stand for long periods of time. He also was unable to perform manual handling tasks, and this meant that Carl struggled with most jobs. Understandably, this situation also impacted his mental well-being, and he suffered from anxiety, low self-esteem and depression.

Finding a new career

Carl lost his last job in 2019, and his family struggled to get by on his wife’s wage combined with Carl’s benefit income. Still only 42 years’ old, Carl was desperate to gain full time employment to help support his family. He approached WWTW for help and was put in contact with his Employment Adviser, Steve.

Steve helped Carl to create his CV and to look for suitable work but, due to his condition, his options at the time were limited. His choices were further restricted when Carl was diagnosed with Severe Sleep Apnoea in August 2022 – this meant that he could only search for jobs that were accessible via public transport as he had had to surrender his driving licence. It is believed that his Sleep Apnoea was caused through significant and rapid weight gain, a direct side effect of the medication prescribed to treat his Scheuermann’s Disease.

With these factors in mind, Steve applied for £1,000 funding to help pay for Carl to retrain and complete a course in bookkeeping and payroll. This was in the hope that it would enable him to find a better suited and more manageable office-based job or even something based remotely from home. Unfortunately, this application was rejected as Carl had no firm job offer on the horizon.

Undeterred and with the bit firmly between his teeth, Carl managed to source a fully funded, intense full-time cyber security course. Steve then spoke to a contact that he had at Sedgwick (a claims management company) and mentioned the course Carl was studying. They were interested and asked him to send in Carl’s CV for a role that would be available once he had passed the course. When Carl successfully completed his studies, Steve duly sent off his CV and after subsequent interviews Carl was offered a remote role as a Digital Forensics Technician. Sedgwick paid for Carl’s travel and a week’s accommodation to complete his induction.

Carl has now been working from home for the last nine months and he and his wife are enjoying a better quality of life and financial security. They have two children who are pursuing their own careers and heading towards independence. Carl has also received notification that he will start to receive his military pension shortly. For the first time since leaving the Army, he is happy and positive about his future.