He crewed Challenger 2s in Iraq. Now he treats the damage war does topeople — including his own.Gareth Evans grew up in Hereford, served on multiple tours in Iraq andAfghanistan with the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, then moved into the Army Welfare Service and later trained as a hypnotherapist. In thisconversation he's honest about what army culture does to a person, whythe stigma around mental health held on so long, and what recoveryactually looked like for him — not the tidy version.We cover the reality of soldiering on tour, army culture and what itrewards, the point at which self-awareness stopped being optional, whattherapy did and didn't fix, and the tools he's building now to help otherveterans rebuild after service.An honest conversation about survival, identity, and finding a purposethat isn't the uniform.#veterans #PTSD #BritishArmySponsor: https://www.kscivilsandgroundworks.co.uk/Support the channel :https://paypal.me/FrankiesPodhttps://buymeacoffee.com/frankiespodPodcast, Veterans, British Army, Veterans Stories

She serviced fighter jets on the deck of the USS John C. Stennis. Oneaccident, and everything changed.

JM Balbuena was a US Navy aviation electronics technician with two combat deployments aboard the Stennis. After a flight-deck accident left herdealing with chronic pain, PTSD and insomnia, one night of proper sleep

sent her down a road she never expected — into advocacy, authorship, and a fight to get medical cannabis to terminally ill patients in American hospitals.

We talk about carrier life, 12-hour shifts and the culture below decks; what the military actually does with people in pain; Ryan's Law and the

campaign behind it; and why she wrote Green Renaissance.

📖 JM's book, Green Renaissance: https://amzn.eu/d/00B6QLsS

🔗 JM online: jmbalbuena.com

What happens when a young soldier discovers that some battles don't end when you leave the battlefield?

In this episode of Frankie's Pod, Frankie Dunn sits down with Wayne Ingram MBE MCPara — former soldier, reconnaissance specialist, paramedic, fundraiser and author — for one hell of a journey through military service, war, trauma, friendship and the extraordinary power of simply deciding to help someone.

Wayne joined the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment at just 17, beginning a military career that would take him from the Cold War in Germany to Northern Ireland and Bosnia. He later moved into reconnaissance with the 9th/12th Royal Lancers, where soldiering meant far more than driving around in armoured vehicles.

But Wayne's life took a completely unexpected turn during a tour of Bosnia in 2003.

That's where he met Stefan Savic, a four-year-old Bosnian boy born with a devastating facial cleft. Wayne could have walked away. Instead, he made a promise.

What followed was a remarkable 13-year mission to raise the money needed to give Stefan the surgery he desperately needed. Through fundraising events, challenges and sheer bloody-minded determination, Wayne eventually helped raise more than £160,000 and changed a young boy's life forever.

And perhaps unexpectedly, Stefan changed Wayne's life too.

In this incredibly open conversation, Wayne talks about joining the Army, the reality of being a young Tankie, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, leaving the military and finding himself in a completely different world as a paramedic.

We also get into the things that aren't always easy to talk about — trauma, PTSD, identity, the transition from military life to civilian life and the scars that don't necessarily show.

Wayne's story doesn't stop there. His post-military career has taken him into emergency medicine, remote and offshore work, Iraq and Africa, as well as some seriously outrageous fundraising challenges.

He's now an MBE, a paramedic, an author and a man who has spent much of his life trying to make a difference to other people.

But perhaps the biggest lesson from Wayne's story is a simple one:

Sometimes changing someone's life starts with refusing to walk away.

This is Wayne Ingram's story — from Croydon to the Royal Tank Regiment, from soldier to paramedic, and from one encounter in Bosnia to a lifelong friendship that changed two lives.

Pull up a sandbag. This one's a belter.

Frankie's Pod — Uncorking the Unforgettable