Marc'S Story

Marc had a long and outstanding career in the Royal Engineers. His exceptional engineering and leadership skills raised him up through the ranks to achieve Warrant Officer Class 1. In 2022, Marc suffered a medical emergency and was discharged from the Army. After 25 years service, the sudden change to civilian life was daunting.

Walking With The Wounded supported Marc through transition and into a new career. They helped him to develop his CV and covering letter, made job applications, and prepared Marc for interviews. When a suitable role came up, Marc was invited for an interview and impressed the panel so much that he received a promotion before he had even started. He is now happily employed as a Senior Project Manager for the NHS in Lincoln.

Life in the military

When Marc joined the Royal Engineers, it was the start of a long and successful military career. He worked hard and thanks to the expert training he received, he became skilled in a range of engineering disciplines.

For the first few years he worked exclusively on diggers and other heavy machinery used in power plants.

He was then specially selected to study for a 2-year Foundation Degree in Engineering and graduated as a qualified Engineer. Marc now had the knowledge and abilities to take on large and complex projects such as building or upgrading camps, hospitals, bridges, and accommodation blocks.

His career began to progress, and he was promoted to Staff Sergeant, to WO2 and finally, in 2017, to WO1. He was responsible for significant military development projects in the UK and around the world and led a team of engineering specialists - mechanical, civil, electrical, and ground engineers, and surveyors.

During his service he was deployed to Iraq once and to Afghanistan 4 times. In 2001, after the attack on the Twin Towers the Royal Engineers were the first to be deployed to build camps for the arrival of the Special Forces. Marc then worked with a fighting section in Helmand on mine clearance and explosives and on the base at Kabul upgrading the camp facilities. He was deployed on 2 more occasions to oversee installations and manage training workshops.

Medical discharge

In 2022, everything suddenly changed when Marc experienced a serious episode of pancreatitis, and his pancreas burst. Marc suffered Hypoxia (lack of oxygen) and needed a tracheotomy to enable him to breath. He was in a coma for 5 weeks and in hospital for a further 3 months. It left him physically depleted and suffering from diabetes.

Marc knew that a Medical Discharge was now inevitable. After 25 years in the military, the prospect was daunting. He had achieved a good rank and earned a steady income. He was worried that his family would suffer from the sudden change in his circumstances.

Not the type to rest on his laurels, when he was feeling well enough, Marc approached military charities for help to get him back into work. In March 2023, he was introduced to Kelly, an Employment Advisor at WWTW.

A new career, a fresh start

As Marc had never needed to write a CV or attend a job interview, Kelly reviewed and consolidated his extensive experience into a single 2-page CV. She also created a covering letter template and signed him up to 15 job agencies.

When a promising job as an NHS Project Manager came up, Kelly made the application on his behalf. Although Marc was over-experienced for the role, when he was called for an interview Kelly put him through a mock scenario to ensure that he was fully prepared.

Marc never thought that he would be offered the job. However, not only was he successful, but his experience was recognised, and the offer was elevated to a Senior Project Manager role.

Marc loves his new job and gets a great deal of satisfaction from the role. He feels the same pride working for the NHS as he felt serving in the Royal Engineers. He has prospects again, opportunities to study and gain further promotion.

Healthwise, he is slowly getting stronger and better. His children are independent and all doing their own thing. Marc and his wife are settled, comfortable and enjoying life post-military.