5 January 2012 Last updated at 12:03 ET

L/Sgt Dan Collins death: Girlfriend wants stress disorder help

L/Sgt Dan Collins' partner of almost two years, Vicky Roach, told BBC Wales he had previously tried to take his own life

The girlfriend of a soldier found hanged in Pembrokeshire has called for more help for those suffering post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Welsh Guardsman L/Sgt Dan Collins, 29, was found dead on New Year's Day in a quarry.

Vicky Roach said he faced a "constant battle" after being shot twice and losing two close friends in Afghanistan.

She wants more help for charities helping soldiers.

The Welsh Government said it was working with the Ministry of Defence and the UK Department of Health to improve health services for serving personnel and veterans.

An inquest was opened and adjourned into his death on Wednesday.

'Nobody will understand'

Former soldier Samantha Bowen was left with a paralysed leg and nearly bled to death after being hit by shrapnel in Iraq.

But, like L/Sgt Dan Collins, she said her real battle was dealing with her psychological problems, particularly PTSD.

The 25-year-old from Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, has suffered mental breakdowns and panic attacks.

Insignificant sounds, like a bang or fireworks going off, can take her back to the warzone.

Sometimes she does not leave her bedroom for weeks and finds it difficult to sleep.

But she has found it difficult to get the help she needs to cope - both in the Army and in the community.

"In the Army people don't really talk about PTSD, it is seen as a weakness rather than an illness," said Miss Bowen, who was a Gunner in the Royal Artillery.

"I didn't really have help for two years, even though I was diagnosed with PTSD two months after I was injured.

"I only had the help for my physical injuries."

After leaving the Army she sought counselling and has attended a clinic for PTSD sufferers at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff.

But a support group near her home is full and she is not aware of what other help is out there for her.

"With PTSD you don't know why you act like you do and you feel alienated from people," she added.

"So going to a support group would be good as it's nice to talk with others going through the same thing."

The Ministry of Defence said it could not comment on individual cases but said it did offer support for PTSD sufferers at 15 centres around the UK.

Kevin Richards, co-founder of the charity Healing the Wounds, said he believed the legacy of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars would be more soldiers suffering from PTSD, describing it as a "ticking time bomb".

Officers were called to Pantmaenog Quarry in Rosebush shortly after 15:00 GMT on New Year's Day.

Dyfed-Powys Police said at the time they were treating the cause of death as "unexplained".

Bomb blasts

In an interview with BBC Wales, Ms Roach said: "What happened on Sunday was not the first attempt - it's been really tough."

She has called for more help for charities like Bridgend-based Healing the Wounds, which aims to help Welsh soldiers suffering from mental issues like PTSD.

"If you lose a leg or an arm - don't get me wrong, that's horrendous - but you deal with it and you move on," she added.

"He couldn't move on, there was no way of him moving on.

"It was a constant battle in his mind every day, and he was fighting this battle.

"If we can just save one soldier in the future it will mean the world to us."

L/Sgt Collins, from Tiers Cross, near Haverfordwest, had served in Helmand Province in Afghanistan where he had lost two of his best friends.

He had also narrowly escaped death, being shot twice and being involved in two bomb blasts.

On one occasion he was shot by a Taliban sniper while on foot patrol with the Welsh Guards.

His life was saved by his body armour. He later later filmed meeting the man who had made the armour to thank him in person.

Journalist and author, Toby Harnden, got to know L/Sgt Collins while researching a book on the Welsh Guards.

He said the soldier had four "absolutely miraculous escapes" from death.

He added: "But the thing that really struck me beyond that - the personal experiences of coming so close to death - was the way that Dan had had to deal with people who were dying or dead.

"And I think that that is the thing that had really eaten away at him."

He said: "It's just very, very hard to comprehend how such a wonderful young man, such a great soldier, such a great character, could get into such a dark place that he felt there was just no way out."

L/Sgt Collins met Ms Roach in February 2010 after returning home from Afghanistan but, although he was "full of life", she started to notice his unusual behaviour.

"There was one incident that I will always remember," she said.

'Screams and shouting'

Partner Vicky Roach said L/Sgt Collins would scream out at night

"We were just walking through Tesco and the big, tall cages that they have, as they're being dragged along, they rattle quite loudly and that scared him, that really shocked him.

"It sounded like gunfire constantly going off. That was the first instance where he dropped to the floor."

There were also nightmares, screams and shouting at night which led to her asking him whether he should seek help.

Ms Roach said the Army was "brilliant" with the support it gave to L/Sgt Collins, and he received regular counselling.

However, he was deeply troubled and found it difficult to talk openly to his family about his experiences, she added.

The Ministry of Defence has said it will not comment.

The Welsh Government said it was working with the Ministry of Defence and the UK Department of Health to improve health services for serving personnel and veterans.

"The Partnership Board is actively working to ensure efficient transfer of personal records from the military to GPs upon cessation of an individual's military service and on more general awareness raising of veterans and service related issues among GPs," a spokesman said.

"All veterans have a right to priority treatment for service-related conditions according to clinical need, and this would apply in mental health services as in the rest of the NHS."