CAMERON EGAN might have left the army before many of his mates were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan but it does not stop him helping them out where he can.
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"I know blokes who have been discharged from the service with post traumatic stress," he says.
They get deployed, they come home, they are not the same and they get discharged ... we had a saying in the military that the government likes to send them but they don't want to mend them."
The Junortoun resident is part of Partisans Australia MMC, a military motorcycle club dedicated to raising funds for the Veterans Mental Health Ward in Heidelburg.
Many ex-servicemen and women grappling with post traumatic stress injuries could feel like they were on their own, Bendigo branch president Shane Taylor said.
The club was a haven because it was full of people who understood their experiences and who they could open up to without fear of judgement, he said.
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PTSIs hit everyone differently, Mr Taylor said. Anger, depression or anxiety could be triggered by a myriad of different things.
"It's a matter of being aware of what is going on (when people have flashbacks). We go and talk to them and bring them back to where we are, because they can start to go back to where they were."
This year's fundraising efforts would include VetRok 2019, a two-day concert in Gippsland scheduled for later this year with headliners like Jimmy Barnes and the Hilltop Hoods.
The Partisans members were always looking for ways to raise funds. Last weekend they gathered at the Soldiers Memorial Institute for a BBQ fundraiser, one of many they regularly hold.
"If you want to get on board you don't have to have been in the military, you can come along as a civilian and have just as much say as other members do," Mr Egan said.
"We welcome anybody and any bike."
Mr Egan encouraged people to like the Partisans MMC Facebook social page.
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