A former soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder has helped raise over \u00a37,000 for NHS charities as part of a comedy duo making hilarious lockdown videos<\/p>\n
The entertaining efforts of Holyhead pals Garry Stewart and Carl Hagan have even had a thumbs up from music star Tom Grennan.<\/p>\n
Aircraft engineer Carl and former soldier Garry have made the videos on their mobile phones during lockdown and they\u2019re definitely tickling the funny bones of people across the internet.<\/p>\n
Donations have come flooding in for the pair who are raising cash for Awyr Las \u2013 Blue Sky \u2013 the NHS charity for the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board which covers all of North Wales.<\/p>\n
They also had a message of support from music star Grennan who took time out from preparing for his European tour to Zoom-call the two friends, sing them a song and give them a message of support.<\/p>\n
Garry, a lorry driver who served with the Army in Afghanistan, says making the videos is also helping him deal with the PTSD which is a legacy of his time in the war zone.<\/p>\n
He was with the Royal Logistics Corps and his job was to drive a giant Oshkosh tank transporter carrying 62.5-ton Challenger main battle tanks up to the front line and recovering vehicles from the soft sands of the Afghan desert.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThose trucks are made to survive anything which was why they were used to recover other vehicles and we did about 40 operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe IEDs are scary and our comrades in the infantry lost 60 men in six months in 2009 on Operation Herrick 10, one of the bloodiest tours.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had worked as an HGV driver after leaving the army but I had a breakdown and my head was messed up. I nearly became homeless but the Army has helped me and so has doing the videos.\u201d<\/p>\n
The father of four, who has now retrained as a tiler, added: \u201cCarl started it when he posted a video as Michael Jackson and I just thought he was losing it but I knew him from playing football when he used to referee so I texted him suggesting we do some more.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really can\u2019t believe the response we\u2019ve had from people and how generous they\u2019ve been \u2013 we just really wanted to help people and to be honest it\u2019s helped me too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been suffering from PTSD since serving in Afghanistan and it still affects me and although I still have therapy it\u2019s now over the phone because of social distancing which makes things more difficult.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut thanks to doing the videos I\u2019m cheering myself up and we\u2019re helping raise money for NHS Charities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carl, an aircraft mechanic supervisor at RAF Valley where he has worked for 18 years, is also a Football Association of Wales referee who ran the London Marathon for RAF charities in 2012, and without training completed the course in four hours 51 minutes.<\/p>\n
He was inspired by seeing Joe Wicks fitness videos on the internet and he added: \u201cJoe Wicks did Fancy Dress Friday and it just gave me an idea so I dressed up as Batman and did a funny video.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seemed to get plenty of attention locally and Garry gave me a call and suggested we started doing them for charity and it\u2019s just taken off from there and two weeks later we\u2019ve raised over \u00a36,500.<\/p>\n
\u201cI live on my own and do all my videos in the living room and because of lockdown I hadn\u2019t even seen Garry until we met up for the picture at Newry Beach in Holyhead.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone seems to love them \u2013 we\u2019ve even had a call from Tom Grennan who said the videos were a great tonic in these dark times. I was really taken aback.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am a father of two beautiful daughters, I love life and I love making people happy and before this my biggest achievement was refereeing the Women\u2019s Welsh Cup Final between Cardiff and Swansea at the Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their videos have had over 300,000 views on Facebook with Carl shooting his own at home in his living room while Garry has partner Rosie Hargreaves behind the lens.<\/p>\n
Kirsty Thomson, head of fundraising for Awyr Las, said: \u201cWhat Carl and Garry have done has been absolutely phenomenal and they have definitely struck a chord with people across North Wales and beyond.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have been so generous with their efforts and all those who have viewed their videos have clearly enjoyed them and been so generous in turn.<\/p>\n
\u201cCovid-19 is clearly no laughing matter but we need to be able to have a laugh as well. Carl and Garry are helping us do that in these difficult times and are raising a lot of money for something closer to the hearts \u2013 their local healthcare services.<\/p>\n
\u201c<\/em>Awyr Las brightens the lives of hospital patients and people receiving health care in the community and helps change and save lives by supporting additional equipment, facilities, special projects, education and research that goes over and above what the NHS provides.<\/p>\n \u201cGarry and Carl are definitely brightening people\u2019s lives with what they are doing. Most importantly, the money Garry and Carl are raising is helping to provide extra mental health support for patients and NHS staff affected by COVID-19 both now and in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Garry added: \u201cWe\u2019re just amazed at how generous people have been. There are a lot of people in Holyhead with not much money but they have dug deep and the way they have supported us has been amazing.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s keeping people sane and we\u2019ve had quite a few messages telling us to carry on with the videos and the A55 American Diner in Holyhead is even giving us \u00a31 for every \u00a310 we raise.\u201d<\/p>\n For more information on Awyr Las NHS Charity go to https:\/\/awyrlas.org.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n To watch Carl and Garry\u2019s videos go to https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC7XHM98ngS5QOdmmrrfqNoA?fbclid=IwAR3vKu8gOeeyg65BmD1ftqtMHdKbR6JhZSDfrwD06XA4tr2MKiz2G84j9rs<\/a><\/p>\n To donate go to https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/donate\/518204035501414\/<\/a><\/p>\n