Soldier attempts suicide after being told PTSD will end military career

OTTAWA – Veterans advocates and soldiers are warning that the number of attempted suicides among the ranks of Canada’s military is growing at an alarming rate.

The wife of a soldier who tried to end his life last month says psychological injuries as a result of Afghanistan are an epidemic among members of the Canadian Forces and the care is not what it should be.

Master Cpl. Kristian Wolowidnyk, a former combat engineer who served in Kandahar in 2009-10, became despondent when told he would be medically discharged because of his post-traumatic stress disorder.

Wolowidnyk’s wife Michele says her husband had only seen a social worker every two weeks, and had not been under a psychiatrist’s care since last summer.

He tried to kill himself two days after learning of his impending discharge, but survived after being rushed to hospital in Edmonton where he met with other veterans of the Afghanistan mission.

His story is coming to light just days after three members of the military took their own lives in a single week.