A veteran combat medic who served in Afghanistan and suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for years has received a new lease of life after being connected with a chocolate Labrador named Eddie.

Jeff Ballard worked as an ER nurse in New Hampshire before he joined the Army and was deployed to Afghanistan 16 years ago. 

He had seen traumatic injuries on the job and thought he would be prepared for anything. But while overseas, Ballard was faced with experiences that would leave him tossing and turning at night for years, and suffering from depression and migraines.

The veteran shared one particularly scarring experience with the Boston Globe, in which he had been called to assist a patrol truck that had struck an Improvised Explosive Device.

He said that when he arrived, he passed the driver who was being walked to an aid station. The man's face was covered in blood, and he was vigorously motioning back towards the vehicle. 

Ballard approached and opened the back door. He was immediately faced with gore and viscera inside the truck, and it took him a few moments to recognize a body amidst the carnage. 

The soldier was missing both of his legs, his left arm and the lower half of his right arm. Ballard reached down to pick him up by his body armor.

'I rolled him over, and he gasped,' the veteran recounted. 'It was an inhale, not an exhale. Dead bodies don’t inhale.'

Ballard's training kicked in and he immediately leapt into action to try to save the man. He applied two IVs to what was left of the soldier's right arm, but the injuries proved too devastating, and the man died. 

When he returned to base and was cleaning himself up, the shock hit him like a truck. He told the Globe that for the first time, he realized 'that could have been me.' 

From then on, the realization impacted him whenever he went on patrol and when he was back at base. The trauma followed him home when he returned from active duty. 

Ballard began having nightmares and flashbacks. He struggled to sleep, and if he did, it was not restful. 

He also suffered physical injuries before returning home. After his deployment ended, Ballard went to the warrior transition unit at Fort Drum in New York, where his physical wounds were treated, but he received no help for his mental distress.

He self-medicated with alcohol like many other veterans. He was prescribed pills such as Klonopin, a benzodiazepine similar to Xanax meant to treat anxiety and panic disorders.  

But the booze and pills simply masked his symptoms and did not get to the root of Ballard's problems.

The veteran began working as an ER nurse again. He said he was able to perform his duties, but 'every patient I took care of, it was that Afghan soldier... I was not in a good place at all.' 

The trauma affected him for years. His first marriage ended in 2018, and he moved to Maine seeking a fresh start. 

There, he reconnected with a woman from a previous relationship he had before being deployed. 

The two had fatefully moved to the same state around the same time and both worked in healthcare, so they naturally came into each other's orbit in 2019.

Ballard married his second wife, Kate, in 2021. She noticed his struggles with PTSD, which made it difficult for her husband to sleep or be in public places with large crowds, as he was hyper-vigilant. 

He was undergoing therapy at the Veterans Affairs in Portland, but the treatment was having limited success. 

But things began to turn around for Ballard in 2021 after he happened to meet a group of trainers from an organization called K9s for Warriors.

The nonprofit's mission, as the trainers explained, was to reduce the average of 20 US veterans who take their own lives every day, while also finding homes for the 1,000 or so dogs that are euthanized daily. 

'They said they want to save lives at both ends of the leash. That really resonated with me,' Ballard told the Globe. 

After a few years in 2024, K9s for Warriors paired the veteran with Eddie, an 85-pound chocolate Labrador. The two are now inseparable. 

When the two met, Eddie raced over to Ballard and jumped on him, knocking his glasses off. The veteran was charmed and immediately fell in love with the pup.

The relationship between dog and owner was cemented during training, which Ballard said was 'The hardest thing I’ve ever done.' 

Now, Eddie goes to work every day for his owner, putting himself between Ballard and strangers who approach too close or too quickly. The service dog gives the veteran much-needed peace of mind in crowded spaces. 

And Eddie is great with Ballard's four-year-old son, Matthew. The dog is just a few months older than the child and nuzzles him when he is off-duty. 

The relationship between the dog and the veteran has helped Ballard with his depression and nightmares. He said he has been able to be more present for his wife and son, and he has rediscovered hobbies such as running that give him joy. 

On Monday, Ballard and Eddie are scheduled to attend a celebration of the 15th anniversary of K9s For Warriors at Fenway Park in Boston. 

The organization states that it has helped more than 1,300 veterans such as Ballard and that it has saved more than 2,500 dogs who were set to be put down.