AN ALLOA veteran is refusing to let her post-war trauma take her life over.

Claire MacInytre served in some of the world’s most horrific warzones during her 16-year career and carries the scars of those events with her today.

A few years ago she was discharged from the army after life-saving surgery, and initially struggled to adjust to civilian life.

She was then diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as the effects of her military postings began to manifest in very concerning ways.

However, the determined mother-of-two is adamant her past will not stop her from pursuing a prosperous future, and has found new ways to cope with her condition.

She looked to exercise to achieve some catharsis, but has now been bitten by the competition bug. Last month, she represented Scotland in the IGFS World Championships and took gold in a kettlebell event.

Claire’s journey has been one laden with highs and lows, but she admits she underestimated just how much she would struggle when she left the service a few years ago.

She told the Advertiser: “Ever since I was young I always wanted to be a solider. When I was 16 and nine months, I went and signed up – three days later I was away.

“I signed up for 22 years and by the time I was discharged I had served half of my life in the army.

“I was never an adult in civilian life before. I grew up in the army; I spent my most important years there. It’s where I became me.”

Claire’s exit from the army was brought on following an accident while serving and at one point it was unclear if she would even survive.

She said: “I had surgery on my brain and my spine – I went on that table with a 50-50 chance of coming back off of it.

“I was told before I went under that there were a few options, a few scenarios of what might happen afterwards.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t until the doctors got in there they realised the extent of it all. It turned out, as a result, that I couldn’t be deployed anymore.

“I went through a horrendous time – I think I was in denial, like maybe I thought I was going to somehow recover and go back. It was a heart-breaking couple of years.”

Claire still looks back fondly on her career, due mainly to the bonding and camaraderie she had with her fellow troops.

However, the effects of it all are still evident in her daily life.

“It’s a calling,” she said. “I wrote the army a blank cheque up to and including my life.

“I witnessed some horrendous and horrific things. Things that no person should ever have to see.

“I would wake up at 2am with nightmares and even last week when the fireworks were going off, it just brings it all back.

“But I miss them; they are my family. I was going to work every day with a squad of guys who always had my back no matter what.”

Claire said she first noticed the signs of her condition when she was working with the Scottish Prison Service.

A workman was measuring the length of a hallway using a laser and after spotting the red sight on her colleague’s clothing she dove on him and pulled him down.

As part of her recovery, Claire took up exercise and joined a gym. She then noticed a poster to take up kettlebells.

Her coach Scott McLaughlin then put her forward for competition and 10 months later she won her first medal.

At the end of October, she travelled with her Scotland teammates to Turin, Italy, and became world champion at the 70kg event with the 16kg bell at One-Armed Long Cycle.

In a 10-minute set, with one hand change, she achieved 128 reps and won the gold.

Claire still struggles with her demons, but she insists having something positive in her life has been instrumental in helping her cope with the trauma.

“PTSD is not a life sentence,” she said. “Sitting and brooding about does not make it any better.

“Exercise, for me, has been an escape. It’s a distraction – when I’m exercising my head is empty.

“It’s really improved my mental health and competing in kettlebells gives me something else to strive for. It doesn’t make it all go away, but it does help.”

She added: “I live for my children. I firmly believe they are the reason I got off that operating table.”