Exclusive: Tobias Ellwood shares 'vivid memories' of Westminster attack as he urges veterans not to 'bottle up' emotions

He is still uncomfortable speaking about what happened, but recognises there is a crossover with his own traumatic experience and his current role in trying to support veterans who struggle with coming to terms with their own experiences of war as they make the step into civilian life.

He said: "I think the hardest thing, as well as stepping through with others to try and save PC Keith Palmer's life, was coming home and finding my eight-year-old boy on top of the stairs having refused to go to bed.  

"It was 10 o'clock at night and he was really confused. He couldn't understand why a bad person would do what he did and he also couldn't quite understand why I had then stepped forward in the way that I did.

"I had to explain to him that there are some bad people in this world. There are bad people doing bad things, but there are more good people doing good things, and that's why we stand up to events such as this."

Pictures of Mr Ellwood covered in blood as he tried in vain to save PC Palmer went around the world and became some of the defining images of the terrorist attack in which Khalid Masood killed five people before being shot dead by a ministerial bodyguard.

"It's something I've deliberately not spoken about it public at all", he said, as he urged war veterans not to "bottle it up" and seek help for mental health issues.

He gave the interview as he launched a new six year strategy to improve the mental health and wellbeing of the Armed Forces, veterans, and their families.

Mr Ellwood, who has previously spoken about how hard it was to get his brother's body home after he was killed in the Bali bombing, wants to change the stigma that says "you can't put your hand up and say 'actually I'm affected by this, or I'm troubled by that’”.

And he wants a greater understanding of the myriad mental issues that can affect those who bear the mental scars of combat.

The strategy includes periods of 'decompression' for service personnel after combat operations and new 'learning packages' for NHS GPs on veteran health issues.

Mr Ellwood said that de-medicalising mental health to include anxiety and depression, which is far more common that PTSD, early detection, and timely, effective treatment, are also key facets of the MOD's plans.

It comes amid concerns that a number of army personnel coming forward as a result of Iraq and Afghanistan are falling through the gaps when it comes to receiving treatment on the NHS.

Last September, the charity Combat Stress said it was treating more than 1,300 veterans of Afghanistan for illnesses including PTSD, depression and anxiety, up 34 per cent from the previous year.

They also suggested that a younger generation of troops, who were more aware of mental health issues, were coming forward and the number of cases could rise higher in the coming years.

Mr Ellwood said: "What I went through is something... but we shouldn't forget that there are many people who have seen much worse and continue to be affected by it.

"That's why it is so important for us to have the mental health strategy that we need- a veterans support package that is understood and a covenant that obliges councils, businesses and communities to recognise the sacrifice that individuals have given."

Part of the problem, he suggested, is that "you are dealing with a very macho environment" and getting individuals to come forward can be a challenge in its own right.

In message to veterans, he urged: "Don't bottle it up - come forward with a mate a share your concerns before they develop", adding that 90 per cent of mental challenges are treatable in the early stages.

Speaking after the anniversary of Passchendaele, where there were 500,000 causalities in the space of three months, he said "many of them were shell-shocked from what they witnessed and in those days could be shot for it.

"We've moved a long way forward from that and now recognise this can very much be a part of being an operation environment."

He also praised the "sterling" work of Prince Harry, who recently disclosed that he sought counselling after enduring two years of “total chaos” while still struggling in his late twenties to come to terms with the death of his mother.

The Prince, who has become a figurehead for veterans from all walks of life, decided to give an unprecedented interview into his past in the hope it would encourage others to break the stigma. 

Mr Ellwood said he was pleased there was now a greater understanding of the impact of putting people in harm’s way and "making them experience things that most people will never see in their lives."

Adding: "It might not necessarily be there in the first week or two after they've come back, it could materialise ten years after they've actually left the armed forces.

"But that is when they need to be aware that there is help and support that can be provided to them. It's the least that we can do."