A Navy veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has described how beekeeping gave him a renewed sense of purpose.
The hardships of war had become the new normal for Daniel Hooper while serving in the Royal Australian Navy for more than a decade.
"You're trained to do a job … and sacrifice pretty much everything else, to do what the task at hand is," he told ABC Statewide Drive Victoria.
But the magnitude of his time spent in war-torn countries became a reality for Mr Hooper when he returned home to Australia.
Diagnosed with PTSD, he described morphing into a self-professed "hermit" and spiralling.
"I wasn't leaving the house. I pretty much spent my days watching telly and YouTube," Mr Hooper said.
A chance encounter
During countless hours spent online, Mr Hooper said he entertained the idea of taking up beekeeping.
A serendipitous trip to his local shops to buy alcohol set the wheels of his apiary aspirations in motion.
"There was a swarm of bees in the car park," he said.
"I found myself watching them settle in a bush … and thought, 'This is my opportunity to get my bees.'"
Mr Hooper gathered up the bees in a beer box from his car boot.
Returning home, he discovered his wife had ordered him a beehive.
"It all fell into place from there," Mr Hooper said.
"It gave me a belief there's always a purpose. It's just a matter of finding it."
Now the proud owner of 40 forty hives, Mr Hooper is encouraging other local veterans to get involved in beekeeping by getting in touch with the Ballarat Veterans Assistance Centre (BVAC), of which he is a member.
"Beekeeping is almost like a form of meditation, without knowing you're doing it, " he said.
"Bees soon let you know if you're not focused. They'll sting you if you've done something wrong.
"Humans can learn a lot from bees."
Call for royal commission voices
Submissions to the Royal Commission for Defence and Veteran Suicide close in October, with 3,000 submission so far having been submitted.
Mr Hooper and Defence and Veterans Legal Service lawyer Steven Baras-Miller encourage anyone who has not shared their story, to do so.
"Don't bottle it up. The more you do, the worse it becomes," Mr Hooper said.
As part of its outreach program, the Defence and Veterans Legal Service is screening the film, Living, across regional Victoria until April.
Starring Bill Nighy, the Academy Award-nominated film focuses on the protagonist's journey to "find purpose".
"What I took from watching it is that we can all leave a legacy, no matter how big or small," Mr Hooper said.
Each screening will also see the legal service offer a panel discussion and Q&A about the royal commission.
"It's the entire community we want to get involved," Mr Baras-Miller said.
