Naples veterans host event for PTSD awareness

NAPLES, FL -

A third of veterans that come back from war suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or Traumatic Brain Injury.

Two groups are working to raise awareness right here in Southwest Florida.

"You look at me and my clothes, you would never know there was anything wrong with me," said Naples Sergeant Brent Hernandez.

Those invisible wounds Sgt. Hernandez will suffer from forever.

"My body was torn in half, everything except for my skin and my spine."

Hernandez is one of an estimated 76,000 veterans in Florida with a traumatic brain injury or post traumatic stress disorder. He suffers from both.

"Nobody wants to say oh yeah that's me, I have it.' I didn't believe it," said Hernandez.

According to health experts, both are severely under-reported.

"It doesn't get better in time, it gets worse," said Retired Brigadier General Jack Hammond and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base program Executive Director, "If you don't get treatment, you're just going to have a very poor quality of life."

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Naples veterans host event for PTSD awareness