Scots veteran branded 'lazy' and 'drunk' suffered blown out eardrums for 20 years after explosion in training

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Scots veteran branded 'lazy' and 'drunk' was unknowingly suffering from 'blown out' eardrums after an explosion 22 years ago.

Brian Hunter, 47, joined the army in 1997 and was caught up in a huge blast during a training session in spring 1999. An MK5 explosive was allegedly hurled close to where the Black Watch soldier was standing at his camp in Kent.

Brian, from Markinch, Fife, said he was hit by the blast, thrown to the ground and that he completely blacked out. He claims that at the time, army staff who assessed him said he was 'fine' and 'nothing was wrong'.But after two decades of questioning head and ear aches, ringing in his ears, dizziness, occasional collapsing and crippling PTSD, Brian secured an audiologist's CT scan in August last year.Stunned medics confirmed his eardrums had been 'blown out' and destroyed and said it was most likely to be linked to the explosion.Brian, who left the army in 2000, wants other service men and women to be vigilant and 'trust their instinct' when they know something isn't quite right.Speaking out for the first time, he told the Record: "I've been going through this ordeal for around 20 years"I've been scarred mentally, I've even tried to take my own life a few times, but what's led me to feeling this way is what happened to me physically."Since the explosion I've had trouble hearing, making me feel almost invisible.

I've had headaches and felt like someone was knifing my ears."Sometimes I can barely hear the TV due to ringing in my ears. Over the years, people have called me lazy or thought I was drunk when I would feel dizzy or my hearing was bad, sometimes I would even collapse."I don't have much of a life because of it and the life I do have is often unbearable."Holdin