The brother of a popular East Belfast man has finished a book which he says helped him through the darkest of days.
Dean Lockhart's body was discovered in a Highland woodland area in Scotland on Wednesday, September 23, the day after he had been reported missing from the small village of Munlochy.
The 36-year-old moved to the Scottish Highlands in 2004 to pursue his military career and was stationed at Fort George, where he settled following his time in the army and tours of Iraq.
Read more: Tributes paid to 'selfless' ex-army dad who secretly helped struggling soldiers
Speaking to Belfast Live, Dean's brother Dale said their family has struggled after losing him to suicide.
"Dean passed away in September and I would have been the one to have organised everything down to the funeral," he said.
"Looking back at that, I don't think I really had much time to grieve for the death of my brother. My way of releasing that grief was through writing. I had cancer a couple of years ago and I had written a blog throughout that journey.
"I thought the route of writing would help with the loss of Dean. For some reason, I started to write from his point of view. He had PTSD from serving in Iraq and he had demons.
"Sometimes he would have told us what was going on. He'd go into it a bit, about some of the things he would have saw in Iraq, but he never spoke of it all. We didn't know the extent of how he was battling until the end.
"I came up with an idea of writing from my mum's point of view, my dad's point of view and Dean's. The plan was to print it myself and give it to my mum for Christmas as a keep sake, but I gave her it early and it was an emotional time."
After allowing family and friends to read his book, 'His Life: The Story of a Troubled Soldier' , Dale said he was encouraged to make it public.
He now hopes that others who find themselves in similar situations, can get some peace and guidance from the words within each page.
"The book starts with a bit about him in school then goes on to when he training with the army and moving into other milestones in his life. When he comes back from Iraq, the book explains, how his life was different in so many ways.
"I really do hope this book can help others. If it can save someone else's family from going through what we are going through, that is what we would want."
Dale said when his brother went missing, he and his family took their car over to Scotland, to help in the searches for him.
"He went missing on the Tuesday and we got the boat over but we got the call when we are on our way to say that his body had been found.
"That was a very grim drive to Inverness. It was the worst car journey ever. After his death, we found out that Dean was actually helping other veterans with their issues but unfortunately he didn't feel like there was any help available for him."
For more information on 'His Life: The Story of a Troubled Soldier' please follow this link.
If you or someone you know is in distress or despair, call Lifeline on 0808 808 8000. You will receive immediate support on the phone and follow up support if necessary. The helpline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Read more: I hit rock bottom: Belfast funeral director's mental health journey
Read more: NI man opens up about mental health breakdown after Covid-19
To get the latest breaking news straight to your inbox, sign up to our free newsletter.
