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Liberty doctoral student shares personal message of hope and suicide prevention with veterans

Matelski-Brady and Justice enjoy visiting Liberty’s campus to attend sporting events.

A devastating vehicle collision in 2009 ended Candice Matelski-Brady’s career as a U.S. Air Force linguist, and in 2014, after years of suffering with chronic pain and PTSD, she attempted to take her own life.

Now, Matelski-Brady, who is currently pursuing her Doctor of Public Administration through Liberty University Online Programs, said she is able to share her story of hope with other veterans. She has made it her goal to protect others from the confusion that depression and anxiety can lead to.

“If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, don’t struggle in silence,” the Chicago native said. “You don’t need to do that. Ninety-five percent of those who attempt suicide (unsuccessfully) regret it afterwards, and I am one of them.”

Much of her current work with veterans has come through her involvement with Battle Buddies, which trains and places service dogs with veterans with the goal of helping them return to civilian life with independence.

Matelski-Brady first learned of the organization through a veteran she met in Asheville, N.C.  where she lives. She called Battle Buddies, and later that year she received her golden retriever service dog, Justice.

Battle Buddies starts training puppies at 8 weeks old until they are placed around 18 months.

“One of the benefits of Battle Buddies is that they do maintain relationships with their veterans that they place dogs with,” she said. “They don’t act as if the dog is the answer. The dogs are a part of the treatment plan.”

For six months, Matelski-Brady and Justice trained while Justice helped her owner grow less reliant on her cane.

“(She’s) kind of that motivating factor,” she said. “There are days where it’s hard to get up in the morning, and it’s hard to get going. Just the basic routine of attending to her needs as well as my own kind of gets me out of my funk.”

Matelski-Brady said that every morning, although pain is the first feeling that she experiences, Justice is the first face she sees.

“I live with a constant amount of chronic pain,” she said. “If Justice senses that I don’t feel well, she’ll start nudging me.”

Justice is at her side in moments of anxiousness, too, even after waking up from a nightmare.

“There’s no place that I go where she doesn’t,” she said. “When I’m studying or when I’m working, she’s usually within just a couple feet of me. At night, she’s usually right on the bed with me or she’s sitting on the couch next to me.”

While Justice has played an integral role in Matelski-Brady regaining some of the freedom she had lost, she said being able to pursue a degree online has also helped her gain the confidence she needs as she speaks at Battle Buddies events and reaches out to veterans who have struggled with mobility issues and depression.

“Part of my recovery has been learning that I can still serve my country, just not in a military uniform,” she said. “I’m very passionate about suicide prevention,” she said. “This is a topic that has often had a lot of stigma (associated with) it. I often help with Battle Buddies fundraising events where they get to talk about the organization, and then I get to share about suicide prevention. Anyone at any level can have these issues. It’s a wonderful relationship that we have that I’m able to do that and able to give back.”

Matelski-Brady said her courses have already helped her learn how to engage with other veterans.

“With a lot of the public speaking that I do now, I’ve really shifted the focus of it and how I present it because of the ideas and the concepts that I’ve learned from (Liberty’s) Helms School of Government and the covenantal teaching that they bring through my program,” she said. “So I talk about covenantal leadership and the obligation we have in treating each other as Christian brothers and sisters. … I’m so glad that I chose to come to Liberty and I’m so glad that I chose the specific program that I’m in.”

She said finding Liberty’s program was “one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made. It’s been a blessing because it’s an opportunity I never thought I’d have.”

Matelski-Brady is currently a business manager at the Veterans Administration hospital in Asheville, N.C., and is married to a Navy veteran and retired federal police officer who has his own Battle Buddies service dog named Captain Sulley.

As she looks back on the course of her life, the sovereignty and goodness of God shines through in painful yet sustaining ways. On the day that she had planned to end her life, she was sitting in church with her two sons, who although young, could sense that something was wrong with their mother.

“My oldest son looked up at me and said, ‘Mom, I love you.’ And my youngest son said to me, ‘Mommy, Jesus died for us,’” she recalled.

This truth that Jesus loves her has stayed with her throughout the years and continues to  uphold her through the trials of life.

“There is nothing that we go through that our Lord and Savior doesn’t understand,” she said.

Throughout each year, Liberty’s Office of Military Affairs seeks to engage the over 40,000 military-affiliated students in the university’s family.

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