As an infantry soldier, Shane Epps cut an imposing figure.
He served in East Timor and more recently Afghanistan where he suffered a complicated, and ultimately career-ending fractured ankle.
For the career soldier, a medical discharge was soul-destroying and thrust the now 25-year old into another, unexpected battle.
“I went through a really dark stage and ended up drinking three bottles of Jim Beam a weekend and got really depressed and got to a point where I almost committed suicide,” Shane says.
Today, he was among 12 returned servicemen to touch the banks of Melbourne’s Yarra River after a 21-day, 400-kilometre sea kayak expedition from Tasmania to Victoria.
The Bass Strait crossing was part of the "Mates4Mates" program that links former servicemen into activities aimed at helping overcome the physical and psychological traumas of war.
Shane on a tour in Afghanistan in 2012. (Supplied)
For Shane, the timing was perfect, enabling him to communicate with other like-minded current and former military men who had endured similar struggles.
“It was great to just sit around a fire and talk about some of the things they're going through which was very similar to me,” he said.
At 25, he was the youngest paddler.
He bonded though with the oldest, Vietnam veteran Basil Caffery, who offered advice far beyond paddling technique.
“He explained to me, 'You don’t need to get angry, there's always idiots around'," Shane says. "You just gotta make sure you're not the idiot that's going to do something stupid.”
And Basil, an experienced paddler and waterman, enjoyed the role of “elder statesman.”
"I was very impressed with the way they accepted me. I'm from a different era to them but they were fantastic. I was just one of them and they didn’t call me 'grandad' or the 'old fella'!"
Throughout the 21-days, the men conquered the high seas of Bass Straight, had close encounters with container vessels and hiked the challenging Strezlecki Mountain on Flinders Island.
Basil. (Photo: Luke Waters)
But for Shane Epps, the experience will form an empowering component of a far greater challenge.
“Now I’ve got to find a new career and doctors keep saying, "You can’t do this and you can’t do that, but I’ve just paddled Bass Straight so I’m pretty sure I can do what I want to do'," he says.
Anyone wanting to contact the Mates4Mates can do so through their website.
Shane Epps. (Photo: Luke Waters)
* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467 or follow @LifelineAust @OntheLineAus @kidshelp @beyondblue @headspace_aus @ReachOut_AUS on Twitter.
Share
