Healing Allies

“A Silly Boy is Berated by his Moody Friend for Laughing at a Rainstorm outside.”

Senior Capstone Film directed by me.

Transcript

1. 1 Clive: A bomb tears things apart without remorse.
2. 2 [Sound of Explosion] How could anyone recover from – let alone survive – trauma like this?
3. 3 These men and women suffered trauma as part of their work to save life and restore normality. They’re on a special expedition to confront their feelings through professional and practical help.
4. 4 They are Explosive Ordnance Disposal operators from the UK and the US. They don’t want to be called heroes. But their experience and devotion are extraordinary...
5. 5 ..and they bear the physical and mental scars that come from sacrificing your own safety to help others
6. 6 Now this group are back to a different sort of active duty, combining their skills to overcome the challenges of a desert journey...
7. 7 ...where facing tricky practical tasks will reveal their incredible back stories - and help recovery from the trauma of the world’s most dangerous job
8. 8 This is Healing Allies Sahara Challenge, a unique innovation where contemporary challenge drives stories - with therapeutic benefit to the storytellers
9. 9 Clive: Bombs are destroyers of worlds
10. 10 [Sound of devastation morphs into peaceful yet purposeful preparation] Episode X: Destroyers of Worlds
11. 11 This is the Healing Allies bivouac deep in the Sahara desert. From this remote base another day’s journey will begin...an odyssey where their past must confront the present
12. 12 Veteran US Navy EOD operator Greg Johnson is getting the vehicle ready for a gruelling desert journey...
13. 13 ...while his British buddy Clive Smith gets himself ready
14. 14 Clive and Greg are one of seven Anglo- American teams competing to win a huge donation to their chosen charity...
15. 15 ...but no-one will lose. The healing benefits from their challenging journey will be priceless. On the journey they face a series of challenges. The stories the challenges reveal will blow you away. And the banter between teams charged with the competitive spirit will be priceless too!
16. 16 Their first destination is a desert oasis
17. 17 Clive:
 The landscape is like Afghanistan...unforgiving
18. 18 Not like your paradise posting in the South Philippines, eh Greg? Whatever Clive
19. 19 Greg and Clive arrive in the oasis town of Foum Zguid Let’s get some fruit in the market
20. 20 In the market, something’s wrong What’s up Clive?
21. 21 Clive:
 I saw a bazaar after a suicide bomb...everyday life turned upside down. I went into EOD to stop this happening.
22. 22 Contemporary Morrocco has resurrected Clive’s past trauma. This class in Bicester, UK, teaches EOD applicants the utter devastation of an explosion
23. 23 Instructor:
 Just one kilogram of explosive could obliterate a small vehicle...isn’t walking up to a bomb a crazy thing!
24. 24 The bomb that nearly killed Clive had enough explosive to destroy all these cars...
25. 25 Former Army Psychologist Marite Wahrlich has profiled the team - she links cast trauma to behaviour and therapy during the episode
26. 26 Back at Clive and Greg’s 4 x 4 there’s a piece of paper on the windscreen What’s the sketch Greg? We’ve got to find a fuckin’ tree! WHAT?!?!?!
27. 27 Greg:
 It’s not quite that easy Clive. This tree is the only one for miles - in the middle of a dried out lake.
28. 28 …if we choose the wrong route we’re stuck!
29. 29 All around Lake Iriki seven challenge teams have been sent to points equidistant from the tree
30. 30 The Race is ON
31. 31 …And the guys are very competitive… You’re determined to drop us into that gulley aren’t you!
32. 32 But Greg knows what he’s doing...
33. 33 And Clive is doing a victory stomp around the tree before the next contenders appear
34. 34 But Greg is distracted
35. 35 Greg holds a twig up that morphs into a detonator
36. 36 At EOD school the students are learning about 
 detonators
37. 37 To make explosives safe to handle they need high amounts of energy to make them explode. So they’re set off by twig-sized detonators which are highly sensitive
38. 38 Today’s challenge has triggered a crucial part of Greg’s backstory. Greg knows that, despite their size, detonators kill. Even without an explosive charge to set off
39. 39 Greg and Clive complete two more challenges today, solving a complex puzzle set by EOD buddies
40. 40 ...and traversing huge sand dunes to reach camp by sunset. Each challenge has revealed past stories – and today’s trauma safari has also been therapeutic
41. 41 They arrive just before the sunset, scoring maximum points. They have earned second place!
42. 42 But end of day beers are much more important
43. 43 The events of the day have reminded Clive of the worst day of his life
44. 44 Clive:
 This desert is so like Afghanistan where I lost my legs...war is hell but searching for bombs is worse
45. 45 Clive:
 I stepped on a bomb and was thrown twenty feet into the air – on the way down I hit a tree and landed in the crater.
46. 46 Bomb disposal expert Brigadier Gareth Collett explains how the deadly device that caught Clive works
47. 47 Clive:
 There was so much dust I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. I got on the radio... “Hello Zero this is 13A. Contact Over…”
48. 48 Clive:
 I tried to get up but fell over. Through the dust I saw my legs ripped apart and blood flowing everywhere... “Hello Zero this is 13A. It’s me I’ve been hit…”
49. 49 Clive:
 I applied tourniquets...then my team were all around me trying to help...a MERT (Medical Emergency Response Team) helicopter took me back to base
50. 50 Clive:
 I was lucky. There were 74kg of explosive in that bomb. It had been buried for months, baked into the ground by the sun. That concealed it and contained the explosion - which saved my life...
51. 51 Bomb disposal expert Brigadier Gareth Collett explains the science behind Clive’s miraculous escape
52. 52 Clive:
 No way I should have survived but I did
 Greg:
 My life was saved by a pair of glasses
53. 53 Greg: I found a cache of 105 homemade detonators. We didn’t know that the terrorists had changed to a more sensitive explosive and they went off. All 105 of them. Reality isn’t like training...
54. 54 Greg: It went red in a flash...then black. I thought I couldn’t see. The sheer terror of thinking you are blind is indescribable
55. 55 Greg: I blinked and my sight came back. My safety glasses saved my life but I lost some fingers. I wasn’t knocked out – I got to experience every lovely second
56. 56 Bomb disposal expert Brigadier Gareth Collett explains the different types of explosives and their relative volatility
57. 57 Medics held back the bleeding for 19 hours until Greg could be evacuated to hospital.
 Greg: I’d never have got through without my team. But it’s a good story over beers. Cheers!
58. 58 Cive had to remortgage his home to buy a decent set of artificial legs...he is now captain of the Invictus wheelchair rugby team
59. 59 It’s been a great day for the Healing Allies – if trauma has affected your life they hope their experiences will help. This is their favourite therapy: hanging out together...
60. Next Time on… HEALING ALLIES 60 Next time on… HEALING ALLIES SAHARA CHALLENGE Larry and Jane get bogged in a salt lake, face the worse task set by their EOD challengers, whilst the trauma of their past has to confront the present.