King Edward VII’s Hospital – There for Veterans in their time of need
We aim to spread awareness of our charity, the Centre for Veterans’ Health, far and wide, ensuring that every Veteran and their family knows that they can turn to us in their time of need.
Andy’s Story
“I was blown up the day after my daughter’s second birthday,” says Andy Geelan. “But I still got home in time for her party.” Andy, a determined family man, faced immense challenges but persevered against pain.
‘Bandit country’
Andy joined the Military in 2006, with The King’s Royal Hussars Cavalry. “I was trained to be a vehicle operator and a weapon operator,” explains Andy.
“I was posted to Afghanistan,” he says. “I was on what they called a ‘Jackal’ – an open-top machine gun carrier. We were down in Lashkar Gah in the middle of ‘bandit country’. It was a very ‘kinetic’ tour with firefights every day. We were always on the move.
Then, three days before I was supposed to fly home for my daughter’s birthday party, we were out on patrol when we hit a 40kg IED that just tore the vehicle to pieces.”
In a spin
“It was 8 July 2012, the day after my daughter’s second birthday,” says Andy as he picks up the tale. “I was supposed to fly home in time for her party that weekend, but I got blown up instead.”
The bomb blast sent debris flying.
Something hit Andy’s spine and the back of his head, forcing his head into his shoulder so hard that he dislocated his jaw.
“I was heavily concussed, but I still made it home for my daughter’s birthday.”
In the dark
Though doctors initially underestimated his injuries, he was later diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury and spent years in and out of Headley Court. Andy endured chronic headaches, nerve damage, and vision issues.
“I’d had months and months of them filling me full of drugs but none of them seemed to work.”
With the stoicism displayed by so many Soldiers, Andy says he “refused to admit that I was broken” and tried to get back into his work as he weaned himself off the pain medication.
In February 2015, Andy got married, but despite hopes for a fresh start, went to Veterans mental health charity, Combat Stress, for support later that year. “My life had become a rollercoaster of ups and downs. My mental health had progressed, but I wasn’t able to do much with my family,” says Andy, massaging his temples. “Stress makes my brain malfunction. I tire, my PTSD takes over and I become quite insular.
I felt like a terrible father,” he says. “Then my own father died.
Combat Stress had told me about King Edward VII’s Hospital’s Centre for Veterans’ Health Veterans and Pain Management Programme, but so soon after my dad died, I just wasn’t ready.”
Recovery
Andy started the Pain Management Programme in February 2024.
“The course? Let me tell you, just day one had a massive effect on me,” says Andy as he rubs his arm. “The information I received on that first day alone, put everything into perspective.”
The Pain Management Programme (PMP) at KEVII is a group-based course led by expert clinicians, including a psychologist, nurse and physiotherapist. They provide the latest insights into pain science and offer practical strategies to help manage pain more effectively. The programme aims to introduce a variety of techniques designed for the daily management of pain while also creating a supportive environment where Veterans can share their experiences and receive mutual support from fellow participants.
“The course taught me about the relationship between your brain and your body – the role of nerves and the nervous system. Everything that was happening to me suddenly made sense. Until that point, I’d thought the problem was me.
I also realised that I was doing everything wrong,” says Andy, as he reflects on the stretches that he had been taught, that the course was able to correct.
“The therapist was saying, ‘Andy, just be kind to yourself. Just stop and do things within your limits. You don’t need to push yourself to the limits anymore’. I needed to hear that. I needed a stranger to tell me to be kind to myself and take it easy – I didn’t need to push myself until I broke.”
Andy tells us how he enjoyed the sessions and found them well-spaced – enough time to digest what had been said and start to implement the advice. Andy also valued the space to ask questions and the private conversations he was able to have with specialists.
In the here and now
We ask Andy how it’s going, now that he’s nearing the end of the course.
“Well,” he begins and smiles as he stretches his neck. “I managed to get the train to London on my own. I stayed in London on my own for the first night and then walked across London from the South Bank.
“How does it feel? It feels amazing. When I went to the railway station, I was thinking, ‘There is no chance I’ll manage this!’. But I got on the train, I just clicked into the mindset the course had taught me. I was just like: ‘Let’s do this. Because there’s nothing you can’t do’.
The course has helped Andy build a new routine that helps him manage his pain while being the dad he wants to be. He wakes up, exercises and sorts the family out ready for school. Then he sleeps. He wakes up and picks up his son from school before making dinner. He’s also stopped needing to take some of his pain medication.
“My son wanted to go to see a Liverpool football match, so we jumped in the car and I drove to Liverpool city centre – during rush hour. That would have been unthinkable before I’d done the course.”
Into the future
Andy also took on the Lake District Three Peaks Challenge in honour of his late father, managing two peaks and almost 19 miles.
“I know that my dad would have been proud”.
With the help of the pain management course, Andy Geelan’s life has been transformed. Previously, he struggled with daily life, avoided physical activity and travel, and felt that he could never be the son and dad he wanted to be. Now, he’s a family man running three miles every day on the road to recovery.
“The pain management programme is not a golden ticket, a quick fix or a magic pill,” says Andy. “It’s about helping you to make small, informed lifestyle, physical and mental changes to enable you to live a better quality of life… And it has certainly changed mine for the better.”
For further information, tel: 020 3918 6478
enquiries@kingedwardvii.co.uk
www.kingedwardvii.co.uk
King Edward VII’s Hospital,
5-10 Beaumont Street,
Marylebone,
London, W1G 6AA.
